When Star-Spangled Plans Meet Bombshell Chaos
by jdho2
Summary: What happens when the Star Spangled Man With A Plan crosses paths with Trenton's own Bombshell Bounty Hunter? The typical Stephanie Plum chaos ensues, of course, this time blown up (pun intended) even more by the Avenger's involvement! Rated M for language and probable smut. Stephanie/Steve pairing. Babe friendly. Cupcakes... in the indifferent to mildly unfriendly range.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: **I'm addicted to both the Janet Evanovich/Stephanie Plum fandom as well as the Captain America/Avengers fandom. I have a story going for JE, and have been too scared to even think about touching the Marvel fanbase. Seriously, can you say intimidating? Then, the other night, I had a dream and I just couldn't put this away. I have no idea if anyone else will enjoy this pairing, but I think it might really work. I hope to make it approachable for JE fans who don't know much about Marvel and vice versa! Let me know what you think and if I should bother continuing this story!

To my followers/fans (if I may be so bold as to call you that) of my JE fanfiction. I promise, I will get more up for you soon, but I'm so blocked by this story, I just had to get it down first. As much as I am a Babe usually, this won't be a Babe. It will be Babe friendly. It will probably be somewhere in the Cupcake indifferent to mildly unfriendly range.

Marvel peeps. Okay, I've watched all of the movies several times, and Agents of Shield a couple of times. I don't know much of anything about the comics. I'm happy to correct any errors, but please be gentle?

This chapter is long. I don't expect the rest to be quite this long.

**Disclaimer: **The characters and things you recognize in this story don't belong to me. They belong to Marvel and Janet Evanovich. I'm pretty sure you'll recognize which is which. Mistakes belong to me.

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Chapter 1

_**Steph's POV**_

My name is Stephanie Plum, aka The Bombshell Bounty Hunter of Trenton, NJ. I know what you're thinking, "she calls herself a bombshell? What's up with that? She must be one stuck up lady." But let me make myself clear, it is not a nickname I chose and it is one that I fought tooth and nail through the years. After all this time, however, I've resigned myself to it.

I do work as a bounty hunter for my disgusting, pervert of a cousin, Vinnie. So that part of the name I don't mind. The "Bombshell," on the other hand, isn't "Bombshell" in the good way. I wish it was, but let's face it, at 5'7" and 130 pounds on a good day with crazy, untamable brunette curls, supermodel I am not. Most days I can button my jeans if I haven't had too many doughnuts, but still.

Nope, I get the nickname "Bombshell" from the fact that things like to explode around me. Cars, apartments, laundromats, funeral homes, you name it, there's a good chance it has been hit by a "bomb" or a "shell" or caught on fire and then exploded in my general vicinity. A couple years ago, a local reporter gave me the nickname and there's been no going back. Trust me, I've tried.

At least I've managed to ditch my other nicknames for the most part. My ex-boyfriend, Joe Morelli, always called me "Cupcake" and I hated it. We broke up several months ago, ending a multi-year on/off relationship. I'd say it was mutual, but that'd be a lie. I broke up with him, and he assumed we were going to be getting back together. The longer we went without that happening, and the more times I told him it would never happen, the more hostile he got.

Then there's "Babe". That nickname belongs to my mentor and former… lover (for lack of a better term or ever really having had a clearly defined relationship), Ranger Manoso. I suppose he still calls me "Babe" more often than not, but out of respect for my wishes, I know he's trying to switch to "Steph". Who knows if he'll ever make it there.

That relationship ended amicably. When Joe and I ended things, Ranger and I had a talk. He still wasn't willing to be in a relationship and I wasn't willing to be fuck buddies, so we decided to just be friends. It hurt for a few weeks, but I'll always treasure his friendship over anything else, including my pride, so we've made it work. No more stolen kisses in alleys or wherever, and definitely no more sex.

Ranger owns a security company, Rangeman, and has finally worn me down over the years to the point where I now work mostly for him, picking up skips for Rangeman, and only covering low bonds with my friend Lula on weekends/days off for Vinnie and Plum Bail Bonds. The hope is for me to hand those fully over to Lula within the next few weeks, and then I can go back to having free time on the weekends and I'll work full time for Ranger.

I've trained with Ranger and some of his "Merry Men". That's my nickname for his employees who are kind of big brothers to me. They freaked out when they first learned that I called them that, but if they won't stop calling me "Bombshell" or "Bomber" then I won't stop calling them my "Merry Men". I can now lift weights, do crunches, and if I have to, I can put in a pretty decently timed run for several miles. I've also been trained in self defence among other skills that former military/mercenaries/gang-banbers can teach you.

Unfortunately, no one thought to teach me about bomb defusal. And really, when you think about it, what's up with that? I suppose they 1) hoped that when I started working for Rangeman and it became well known that I could take care of myself, people would stop stalking me and planting bombs (what, I haven't mentioned the stalkers yet?) and 2) they figured Ranger would wear me down and I would start living in the apartments in Rangeman's building on Haywood. Well, looks like they were wrong on both counts. I still get a decent number of stalkers, and I refuse to lose my independence by moving in to Rangeman. Plus, who wants to live AND work in the same building as their ex… whatever Ranger is. We may be friends, but that would be too much, especially when one of us started dating again. That would be awkward.

They'd never stopped trying to convince me to at least move to a more secure building, but a hate moving so I'd always put it off. Which brings me around to my current predicament. And sorry for taking so long to get here, but really that all flashed very quickly through my mind as soon as I opened my apartment door and saw those numbers flashing in front of my face. I guess some bad guys still use timers on their bombs, because those numbers are counting down, and I'm pretty sure that's a bomb they're strapped to. There's not a lot of time on there, and, unfortunately, I've left my phone in my car and I turned in my panic button when Ranger and I went back to just being friends.

So, I did what I think anyone would do, I pulled the fire alarm and then started on the top floor and went door to door as fast as I can. Now, the fire alarm will usually clear out most people, but I have a lot of senior citizens in my building who take out their hearing aids and fall asleep in front of a flashing TV by this time at night, so they don't always make it out on their own. I know this from experience because, unfortunately, we all have a lot of it. I also knew my building super, Dillon, who lives in the basement, would start clearing out the apartments on the bottom floors.

Thank goodness my hamster, Rex, was currently hanging out at Rangeman, as he'd been unofficially adopted as a mascot there after more than a few close calls and overnight surveillance shifts. I was almost with the apartments and was helping who, I thought, was my last elderly neighbor move, more slowly than I'd like, through the lobby and out to the parking lot, when a big man ran up and took over. As he put his shoulder under the man's armpit on the opposite side and wrapped his arm around his back, we touched briefly, and I felt a tingle. A very, very good tingle that spread through my body, lingering in all the interesting spots. A tingle I hadn't felt in a while.

I mentally shook myself. "Thanks!" I shouted, "I'm just going to make sure no one else is in there!" I ran back up to the floor above mine, the fourth and top floor, and mentally ran through the list of tenants and apartments. Everyone accounted for. I went down to my floor and did the same. Everyone accounted for. I stopped briefly at my apartment door and saw only a little over one minute remained on the timer. I'd already cleared the second floor and I was just going to have to trust Dillon when he said that everyone was out of the first floor.

I turned around and ran into a muscled chest. It was the man from downstairs. "Come on, I shouted, we have to get out of here!"

His eyes bugged out a little seeing the bomb then nodded briefly and grabbed on to my arm and started running, keeping pace with me. Somehow, the stairwell door had jammed. Without a second thought, I grabbed his hand and turned around, running back toward my apartment, shouting "trust me!".

We ran right past the bomb and out onto my fire escape. 30 seconds. I started down the stairs and the man just grabbed me around the waist, picked me up bridal style, and jumped down. I screeched in shock before going utterly speechless as he landed and then ran, with me in his arms, further away from the building as if he'd just jumped off a porch step or something. I tried to get a good look at his face, but it was dark and I was being jostled around in his arms quite a bit.

We made it around to the street where all the tenants were gathered just as the bomb went off behind us. "Damn, he's fast!" I thought, might even give Ranger and Lester a run for their money.

He turned around and gently set me down on my feet, keeping his arms on my shoulders to help steady me. I couldn't help but notice that there was an oddly shaped duffel bag on the ground by us, which was odd. But I suppose it was probably his. He certainly didn't live in my building.

"Was anyone in that last apartment?" he asked, "the one with the bomb."

"Probably not, as it is my apartment and I live alone. Though people break into it a lot, clearly, so I suppose we won't know for sure until they finish their investigation."

He turned and looked at me, "that was your apartment?! Why would anyone put a bomb in a dame- I mean, woman's- apartment?"

I snorted before I could stop myself and patted him on the shoulder. "Trust me, it wasn't the first time, and it probably won't be the last." I replied. Then I paused and thought for a minute, "Well, I suppose it is the first bomb-bomb. There's been grenades, rockets, arson, among others, but that may be the first time someone's used an actual bomb like that. Truth be told I don't quite remember."

At this point, he was just staring, his jaw dropped in disbelief. I stuck my hand out, "Stephanie Plum, thanks for your help. It would have been worse without you there. Please don't be my stalker or the person who left the bomb."

His eyes widened, almost comically, "N..no, that wasn't me" he gasped, obviously still taking in the fact that I wasn't overly shocked to have found a bomb in my apartment. Or maybe it was that I'd semi-accused him of planting it. Hey, a girl can never be too careful!

"I was happy to help, ma'am. My name is Steve R-" he was cut off by the squeal of tires and the howl of the sirens.

"Ah, yes, the cavalry is here!"

"What? Melinda May is here?"

I looked at him funny, "I don't know a Melinda, but my coworkers are hooked up to the police scanners and they always show up as soon as a call goes out with my address. And I left my phone in my car, so I haven't answered their calls, and as I mentioned I'm prone to events like this as well as stalkers, so I'm sure they're quite concerned right now. Sorry in advance if they…"

I trailed off as all of the sudden we were quickly surrounded by Merry Men, dressed in all black, with their guns drawn and pointed directly at Steve. "Step away from the girl!" they were shouting, "Get on the ground, hands behind your head!"

I noticed that there were several cops mixed in with my guys at this point. Steve was tensed up, clearly taking in the situation around him as he slowly raised his hands behind his head and then knelt on the ground.

I stepped between him and Ranger, who stood out among his men with his second-in-command, Tank right beside him. "Ranger! Stop, he helped me clear the building!"

Ranger raised up his hand and the men dropped their guns by their sides, but remained alert and didn't holster their weapons.

I motioned for Steve to stay down a little while longer.

"So, what's up?" I said to everyone, trying to diffuse the situation a little.

"I don't know, Babe, we got the call about the bomb and you weren't answering the phone. Who is this, and how do you know him?"

"This is Steve. We just met. He helped me clear the last of my neighbors out of the building, then helped me get out just before it exploded. We were just getting around to introductions when you went all 'Rangers' on his ass. Can you back down a bit? My spidey sense isn't going off with him, and he did help. I think we should give him the benefit of the doubt."

_**Steve's POV**_

I relaxed ever so slightly when I noticed the men relax even more after Stephanie said that her "spider sense?" whatever that was, wasn't going off. I wonder if she has some sort of special powers? That'd be interesting, maybe this was a set-up. If nothing else, I was more glad than ever that I'd managed to push my alert button when I saw the bomb in that apartment. _My_ backup should be arriving before _too_ long. In the meantime, I'd just see what happened.

"I'm sorry I didn't answer my phone," Stephanie was saying, "I accidentally left it charging in my car when I went upstairs. Why don't you all calm down a minute while I go grab it?" she suggested.

"Got ID?" a huge man standing next to the "Ranger" fellow asked me. He'd called Stephanie "Babe," so I guess maybe this is her boyfriend?

"Yes," I replied, "I'm just going to slowly reach into my bag here with my left hand and get it out."

"Slowly" was his only reply.

I cautiously reached into my bag, making a show of appearing calm while searching around. In reality, I knew exactly where in the bag my ID was, but I wanted to get my shield loose for easier access, just in case. I was taking in my surroundings the whole time, keeping tabs on all the men, but I couldn't help but let my gaze wander over to Stephanie.

She was walking toward the car and had pulled her keys out of her pocket. She stopped and looked at it for a minute, a shiver seeming to run up her spine before she shrugged and pushed a button. I could hear the car unlock and also start-up and then I noticed the flash on the dashboard. With my improved senses, I could just see a reflection in the windshield that looked like single digit numbers counting down!

Without a thought about the armed me around me, I reached in my bag and grabbed my shield while simultaneously jumping up and taking off after her. I grabbed onto her waist as I felt a jolt in my shoulder and heard a man yell, "No! Hold your fire!" Not even pausing I pulled her down with me and covered her with my body putting my shield between us and the car. I felt the pressure in the heat a split second before I heard the explosion. I just held onto Stephanie, making sure her head was covered, and waited.

Finally all I heard was silence, and the gasps and panting of the woman under me. I was a little surprise since she seemed so indifferent about the first explosion, but I guess the second one got to her.

"Damnit!" she yelled, "not my apartment AND my car!"

I slowly released her so I could stand and looked up at the men dressed in black. They were staring at me without saying anything, but their guns weren't drawn, so I guess that's a good thing.

Stephanie turned to me and said, "Oh my god, I can't thank you enough. Are you okay?! What am I saying, of course you're not okay, you just lay down and Bobby will look at your burns and any shrapnel. How are you standing? BOBBY!"

I shook my head and said, "I'm fine."

Meanwhile, I heard one of the guys snicker and watched him shove at another man. "Man, Les, I can't believe you shot Captain America!"

At that, Stephanie paused, then looked down at the shield in my hand. I just reached my hand out to her and said, "As I was saying before we got interrupted, my name is Steve. Steve Rogers. Happy to help."

I watched her slowly process this information, and open her mouth to respond, when I heard someone yell, "Jesus Christ, Cupcake! What the hell did you do now?! What is this, another stalker of yours? Why can't you just lead a normal life?! Get a decent job? And new friends!"

I was seriously beginning to wonder about this woman. And who was this new guy. Why would he automatically assume it was her fault. He didn't even ask if she was okay. I tuned out his ranting as I looked at the rest of the men around us. They seemed to have relaxed about me, but were on alert now scanning the area around us looking for additional threats. No, seriously, what is the deal with this woman?

Just then it started pouring rain out of nowhere and I heard the sound of what, I've been repeatedly informed, was AC/DC's "Back in Black".

Iron Man flew through the air and landed next to me and actually between Stephanie and the majority of the men. Then Thor flew in with his hammer and landed a few feet away at my back, twirling his hammer around threateningly. I heard Stephanie's squeak of surprise and fear, and reached over and twined my fingers with hers and squeezed her hand in what I was hoping was a reassuring manner. I felt rather than heard her take a deep breath and relax a little. Then she she muttered so quietly I barely heard it beyond the music "Holy fucking hell, he's fucking Captain America and that's Iron Man and Thor. Am I even awake right now?" I had the sneaking suspicion that she hadn't meant to say that aloud.

"What do we have here?" I heard Tony say in a bemused tone.

I was about to open my mouth, when I heard Stephanie shout, "Guys, seriously?! You know who they are! Put your guns down, are you insane. Let's take the testosterone down a notch." then under her breath again, I heard her mutter, "or three."

As the men started ever so reluctantly lowering their weapons, I turned to Tony and then Thor and said, "stand down," watching as Thor stopped swinging his hammer and Tony turned off his music and lowered his face mask.

"Okay," Stephanie said after another deep breath. "Steve, it appears you are Captain America, is that correct?"

I heard Tony chuckle as I responded, "yes".

"So then is it safe to say you aren't stalking me and you didn't bomb my apartment OR my car?"

I just gaped at her for a second, and before I could reply, Tony barked out a laugh, "are you kidding?! He's Captain America. He can barely hold a conversation with a woman, let alone stalk one. He'd die if he accidentally saw even one inch more skin than you're showing now. And he can't even lie let alone bomb innocent civilians!"

"Alright, then I suggest we all relax for the night. I'm going to go out on a limb," she said, glancing over at the men dressed in black and not even sparing a glance at the last man who had arrived, "and say that I'll be giving a statement to the cops and then heading back to the Rangeman offices and we'll be working on figuring this out." This Ranger guy just nodded, as did the rest of the men.

"You are all three welcome to join us," she said, causing some of the men to start to protest, but they stopped as soon as they saw the look in her eyes.

I glanced over at Tony and Thor, and said, "are the others?" when they nodded, I turned to the larger group. "Just so you're aware, I think we'll be having some more people join us while we wait. Then, we will take you up on your offer to be involved in the investigation. I'm not going to leave until I know that you're safe." I directed the last part at Stephanie.

She just looked in my eyes for a few second and I could feel an inexplicable connection again that I'd felt the few times we'd touched tonight. It was… soothing…

Then she turned and reached out her hand to Tony, introducing herself without a care in the world for the fact that this was a highly dangerous man and that she was shaking hand with him through a metal suit. After she had done so, she turned and did the same for Thor, not even hesitating for a second at his bizarre armor. And all I could think was, she must be one special lady to just accept us like this, no questions asked.

After the introductions were made, she went over to the other men in black, still studiously ignoring the late comer, who I now gathered was a cop, and talked to them. She seemed to be reassuring them that she was fine.

Tony and Thor finally stood fully down and walked over to me to start to get the story when Toney suddenly gasped and reached out for me. "Cap! Who shot you?!" he exclaimed before going back into full armor and Thor started pulling together a storm again.

"Calm down," I explained, "They didn't know who I was, and they were protecting her!"

As I nodded toward Stephanie, I noticed that she had clearly heard what Tony said and was wide eyed!

The one that I had previously determined to be "Les" shuffled his feet and muttered something to her, and she turned around and smacked him upside the head. "Lester Santos," she scolded, "Why did you shoot him?!"

"Beautiful, he was a stranger, your apartment has just exploded, and he was running at you! I didn't know he was Captain America!" he justified before turning to me and saying, "I'm truly sorry, sir."

I just waved him off and just said, "I understand."

Stephanie was walking back toward me, gesturing to another of the men. "This is Bobby Brown, he's a trained former-Army medic and he handles all of my gunshot wounds. Well the ones that are minor enough that I can talk him out of making me go to the hospital. Will you please let him look you over?"

I nodded my assent as one of the men in the background hustled up to Bobby and handed him a medic's bag. I tried not to blush as I shrugged off my shirt and heard Stephanie groan. After a couple minutes, Bobby was offering me stitches and recommending that I go to the hospital, but I just shrugged him off. "Go ahead with the stitches if you feel the need, but I'll heal soon enough."

Then as he prepped a local anesthetic and pain killers, I just waved him off and said, "don't bother, they won't work, it's fine."

He looked over at Thor and Tony who just nodded in agreement before cleaning the area and beginning the stitches. Stephanie was next to me, flinching when he started stitching and holding my hand. I looked at her, slightly alarmed since we had just met, but Lester just shook his head and said, "don't worry, she does this when we get hurt too. Just let her fuss over you; you won't be able to stop her anyway, you'll just annoy her trying. And you did just risk your life, at least twice by the sounds of it, to help her, so you won't be able to shake her off."

I noticed that everyone in the vicinity seemed to have stopped what they were doing in favor of watching Stephanie and I. As much as I didn't understand or welcome the attention, I was used to some level of spectacle when I went out or when the Avengers and I completed a big mission. But I was surprised by the level of scrutiny. It seemed extreme even for us.

I turned to Tony and started to say something when a Quinjet suddenly hovered just above the parking lot, allowing the rest of the Avengers to assemble around us. I guess the other men took my warning to heart because they barely tensed up at all and didn't draw on the newcomers, for which I was grateful. Somehow I didn't think that Clint and Natasha would appreciate that too much.

Natasha looked over and took in Stephanie hovering and holding my hand and grinned. I opened my mouth, but before I could say anything, Natasha said, "who is this? Is she why you wouldn't ask out Kristen from statistics?"

"What? No! I! I just met Stephanie! And…" I trailed off stuttering as the rest of the Avengers chuckled and everyone just looked on with bewildered expressions.

Stephanie walked up and introduced herself to each new addition before turning to one of the uniformed cops and saying, "Eddie, mind if we take this to Rangeman? I think maybe this would be better handled not out in the open at this point."

The cop just nodded, and Stephanie turned back to Natasha and I. "Can I hitch a ride with you guys and lead you to Rangeman? There's a helipad and space on the roof for you to park that… thing…"

Natasha and I both nodded and I put my hand on the small of her back, picking up my duffel and guiding her onto the jet, which had managed to land on the street. Once we were inside, she turned back to the men dressed in black and shouted, "see you at Haywood!"

As the loading door was rising, I heard a, "what the hell, Cupcake?!" again. Then there was relative silence as the jet took off and all of the Avengers stood in a semi-circle staring a Stephanie and I. I chuckled as she gave them all a finger-wave then said, "Hi, I'm Steph. It's a pleasure to meet you all. Do you mind if I tell your pilot where to go before answering all your questions?"

We just nodded and I lead her to the cockpit. The lead into a possible threat I had been looking into earlier this evening had been a dead end, but this had certainly turned into an interesting night.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: **The characters and things you recognize in this story don't belong to me. They belong to Marvel and Janet Evanovich. I'm pretty sure you'll recognize which is which. Mistakes belong to me.

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Chapter 2

_**Steve's POV**_

My eyes lingered where Stephanie had just stood while she made her way up to the pilot. Natasha cleared her throat to get my attention and I glanced up to notice the matching grins on my teams' faces. I blushed. "I was just… thinking about something…" I finished lamely.

Tony barked out a laugh, "Yeah, we know what you were thinking about!"

I blushed even more and just stared uncomfortably at my shoes. Tony was right, and I couldn't think of a single thing to say.

Bruce finally took pity on me and said, "why don't you tell us what is going on here. Who is this woman? What were you doing in Trenton? Were you attacked by Hydra in that building? And what on earth happened to that car?"

I let out a sigh of relief; debriefs I can do. "I was in Trenton looking into a potential threat for Hill, but that didn't pan out. I thought I'd walk around a little and try to get a feel for the area.- see if I heard or saw anything that suggested the threat was real and I just had the wrong location. I was walking past that apartment building when I saw a bunch of people in their night clothes in the parking lot. That seemed odd, so I took a closer look and saw Stephanie helping an elderly man out through the lobby door. I wasn't sure why they were evacuating, so I rushed over to help them in case it was time sensitive."

Stephanie rejoined us and stood next to me, again seemingly unconcerned with the fact that she was with six of the deadliest people in the world, two of whom were assassins and spies.

"I had just started helping the man out of the building, when Stephanie yelled that she was going to check if there were any more people and went back into the building." I continued, "Once I got the man out and a safe distance away, I went back in to help Stephanie, neutralize the threat if I could, and make sure she got out of the building as well."

"I found her on the third floor of a building, running away from a bomb that was showing just under one minute left on the timer."

At that everyone turned and stared at Stephanie, clearly with looks on their faces wondering why she was with a bomb and whether or not she had set it.

"I just wanted to know if there was time for me to save my shoes," I heard her mutter.

Natasha left out a surprised chuckle, and Stephanie's head whipped up from staring at the ground in thought. Her eyes widened and she said one of the most endearing things I'd heard in a long time, "did I say that out loud?"

Everyone burst out in laughter and when she looked at me, I just nodded.

I felt the quinjet start to land, and reached out a hand to stabilize Stephanie. Her eyes met mine, and I felt that connection again and blushed. She smiled and whispered her thanks before turning to the group and saying, "is it okay if we continue this inside?"

Once everyone had given their assent, Stephanie started leading the way. Tony was still in his suit and everyone else was armed. My gut was telling me I could trust Stephanie and these men, but it had been wrong before, so I grabbed my shield and harness to strap it onto my back. I always felt more comfortable when I had it on anyway.

In a few strides, I caught up to the group as Stephanie was saying, "since we flew, I'd imagine everyone else is still at least a couple minutes behind us. My fob will get us in and down to the conference room though."

We walked into a staircase from the rooftop and down several flights before reaching a door for the second floor. I'd caught up to Stephanie and reached to open the door after she'd used her fob and I heard the locks click open, allowing her, and Natasha, to pass through the door before me."

"Thanks!" Stephanie called out as she walked further into the building. I watched as she looked across the hallway and smiled giving a small wave. I was baffled for a minute by that since there was no one there, until I noticed the camera.

"I think Junior's on monitors tonight."

The conference room door was already open and Stephanie squealed with delight as she led us in. I noticed an older woman with a cart setting up quite the spread of food, and Stephanie exclaimed, "Ella! You're the best. I love you! When are you going to adopt me?!"

The woman, presumably Ella, just chuckled, finished laying out the food, handed Stephanie a pre-made plate and patted Stephanie on the cheek with a smile. She then glanced over at us, not hesitating even a fraction of a second, and wheeled her empty cart out.

Stephanie turned back to us with joy in her eyes and said, "that's Ella. She's the generally runs the building. She's the housekeeper for those who live in the building and she keeps the break room stocked with delicious, delicious food! You can hardly even tell that it is healthy."

She bit into a cookie and let out a moan that had me shifting uncomfortably with my eyes bugging out of my head. I noticed the other men shifting as well and Natasha just looked amused.

I heard a chuckle and tensed up for a second before I heard the "Babe" that followed. I turned around to see none other than that Ranger guy. How had he gotten here so quickly? And how had he snuck up on me? I guess I was too distracted by watching Stephanie.

"Please feel free to grab some food or some coffee and a seat; the others should be here any second," said Ranger.

I noticed Tony glancing around the conference room a bit, assessing, before he nodded his approval and went over to a side wall and stood with his back to it, arms crossed against his chest. Clint and Natasha wandered over to get themselves some coffee before sitting down at the table next to Bruce who had already taken a seat. Thor, unsurprisingly, was helping himself to a large plate of food, and I went over and snagged a muffin, trying to seem disinterested as Ranger wrapped Stephanie in a hug.

Ranger stepped back, held her at arms length, and checked her over for injuries. Stephanie rolled her eyes and said, "I'm fine, Ranger. Not even a scratch thanks to Steve."

Ranger nodded and came over to me and shook my hand, introducing himself and thanking me for helping Stephanie. He then moved on and introduced himself to the rest of the team.

Slowly more of the men in black started filing into the room. One by one they repeated the process, sweeping her into big hugs, reassuring themselves that she was okay, then thanking me and introducing themselves to the rest of the team. How many nicknames did this woman have? I think I heard her called "Little Girl", "Beautiful", "Bomber" (I quirked an eyebrow at that one), "Bombshell" (she most certainly was one), "Angel", and "Angelita". One of the cops shuffled in and did the same routine, simply calling her Stephanie before reassuring her that Joe wouldn't be joining us. I assumed that was the angry man from the crime scene earlier.

Once everyone had settled in, the meeting was underway. Stephanie came to the back of the room and stood next to me, which seemed to cause more than a few surprised as well as curious looks. Those looks were usually followed by "casual" glances at Ranger. The seat to his right was empty and I could tell Stephanie usually sat there.

I looked at Ranger but couldn't read anything in his blank face.

"Alright," Ranger said, "welcome to the Trenton headquarters of Rangeman, LLC. Stephanie as well as all the men here who aren't in cop uniforms work for me. We're all here to figure out what happened and determine if there is a continued threat to Stephanie. Babe?"

"I left work a little later than usual because I was caught up in that search I was running. By the way, don't hire Daniels, he's got gambling debts and I think he's bad news." Ranger nodded and Stephanie continued, "I went up to my apartment and I didn't notice anything unusual on my way up. When I opened my door, which was locked, I heard a beeping noise. I looked down and saw what appeared to be a bomb, I mean, I wasn't sure, but it certainly LOOKED like a bomb, so I figured it was better to assume it was one and be wrong, than assume it wasn't one. I mean, it's me, so I figured odds were in favor of it ending up being one. Why does everyone have to try to blow me up? Sometimes it really makes you wonder what I did in a past life."

"Babe."

"Right. Anyway, I assumed it was a bomb, so I pulled the fire alarm and started helping people evacuate the building."

"Why didn't you call us immediately?" Tank, the giant man from earlier said.

"I'm sorry, Tank. You know I don't carry a panic button anymore, and I'd accidentally left my phone in my car. I didn't want to waste time getting it when I could be getting people out."

She then went on to explain the evacuation of her neighbors and my arrival on the scene. When she finished, Ranger asked me to go through my version of events.

As soon as I was done, Lester said, "so, you have a button on your watch that you push and it lets the rest of the Avengers know that you need assistance?"

I nodded my head in affirmation and every man in black fixed their gaze on Stephanie with serious intensity. "See, Beautiful," Lester said, "Captain America carries a panic button! If he can, why can't you?!"

"Actually, we all carry one," chimed in Tony, "I made them myself. They have a few… additional features as well."

All eyes were still fixed on Stephanie and she shifted in her seat uncomfortably for a few seconds. Then she looked up, and I was surprised to notice fire in her eyes as she said, "if it was just a panic button, I would. But it isn't just a panic button, it is a tracker that you monitor at all times! Not to mention all the additional trackers you put on me. In my purse, in my makeup, on my car! I won't have you monitoring my every move!" she exclaimed.

Can't say I blame her there, I wouldn't want anyone tracking my every move either. Still, I guess I didn't understand why she would need that kind of protection. I was about to ask when Natasha beat me to the punch. Before anyone could respond, Tony said, "Jarvis, if you would."

All of the sudden a projector whirled on and a large screen lowered itself in the corner of the room. Ranger narrowed his eyes at Tony, clearly displeased that he'd managed to take control of the electronics in the room. A man named Hector whipped out a laptop and started muttering to himself in Spanish and typing away furiously.

"Oh, don't take it too harshly," Tony said, "this took Jarvis and I _much_ longer than usual to pull off."

At that, a bunch of news articles and video clips of local news reports started playing on the screen. It started with an article about who I recognized to be the guy who was ranting at Stephanie at the crime scene earlier. Apparently he was a cop accused of murder and Stephanie had been assigned to bring him in when he skipped bail as her very first case. She'd managed to bring him in AND prove that he wasn't the murderer. Each subsequent story was about Stephanie and some sort of, well, catastrophe that seemed to have happened to her. I tensed when I saw pictures of Stephanie standing the middle of a circle surrounded by what appeared to be dozens of dead gang members. I felt her shudder next to me and reached over, grabbed her hand, and gave it a quick squeeze before letting go again.

There was silence when the videos and stories stopped. There hadn't been anything more recent than a couple months ago. My team and I turned to her, now with utmost respect for what she'd pulled herself through as well as a bit of amusement for how she reacted.

"Well, that's just great, was that really necessary? I've never seen it all laid out like that before. And that didn't even include the stalkers that didn't make it into the news. None of that may have been directly my fault, but I really am a disaster. Maybe I _should_ listen to my mother and go try to get a job at the button factory even if the boredom kills me."

This was met with protests throughout the room and I chimed in saying, "What I just saw wasn't a disaster. I saw a courageous, determined woman who is a fighter."

I was surprised when Natasha, of all people, chimed in with, "he's right you know. A lot of people wouldn't have made it through all of that. They would have given up probably after their first confrontation with that Benito Ramirez character. From what I could see, none of that was your fault, but you stuck with it and saw it through to the end. Heck, I don't think I saw any mention of a skip that got away. What's your capture rate?"

"95%" this came from Tank. I didn't know anything about bounty hunting, but based on Clint and Natasha's barely visible reactions and how all the Rangemen employees seemed to puff up with pride, I felt comfortable saying that was exceptional.

"Nice," continued Natasha. I was pretty sure she's up to something because she doesn't usually talk this much. I was also pretty sure it had to do with her comment earlier about not asking out Kristen from statistics. "As for the rest of you, you run a security company and she's your coworker who you all seem to care about. Did you not teach her how to fight?"

A couple of the guys shifted uncomfortably, clearly wanting to say something but not wanting to take on _the_ Black Widow.

"Actually, that was mostly my fault. Despite all of this, I didn't really start to take my training all that seriously until I started working here full time a few months ago. They've been working with me since then and I just recently passed their basic entry-level required testing."

Natasha turned back to Stephanie and said, "Well, we'll just have to see how well they've trained you. But either way, they're men, so they can't completely understand how to train a woman. Judging by the look of Cap over there, I'm pretty sure we're going to be staying here until we know you're safe, so I'll work with you while I'm here."

Stephanie visibly paled at this before taking a deep breath then nodding gamely.

When Natasha mentioned staying, the other Avengers just nodded along, so I guess we are staying. I wasn't aware that I had a "look", but then again I suppose after all the missions, Nat knew me the best of probably anyone alive today, so she probably could see what others hopefully could not.

The attention shifted back to Ranger and he started peppering Stephanie with questions, and I noticed out of the corner of my eye that Tony was up to something. He'd dropped his mask back down, so I knew he was talking to Jarvis. I was half listening and sorting out the facts in my mind. To be honest, it didn't seem like there were many of them. Stephanie hadn't seen anything on her way in. She hadn't received any strange letters or threats recently. No one she had brought in to jail had seemed overly hostile toward her. That she knew of, no one had broken into her apartment recently.

It still seemed so strange to hear her add "recently" as a qualification to all those items, but having seen that newsreel, I guess it was fitting. I noticed the cops get up and leave, I guess they had enough information for their initial report.

I wondered how we were going to go about keeping her safe though, given that we clearly didn't have even a hint of an idea of who was behind this. With that thought, I shifted my mind back to the conversation noticing that Stephanie had tensed up and was looking stubborn.

"Absolutely not," Stephanie was saying.

"Babe, be realistic here. We don't have any employee apartments available right now, and you can't stay with your parents. You'd go crazy and you'd be putting them in danger."

"I will not be staying with you in your apartment, Ranger."

That was good to know.

"You've stayed there before."

I tensed up. I just met this woman, but still I could have done without hearing that.

"That was different, things were different then. I'm not staying there ever again. Besides, I've been working full time for you for a while now. I can afford a hotel to stay in for a week or two while I look for a more permanent solution."

I didn't like the idea of her staying alone in a hotel, but a part of me was extremely pleased to hear her put Ranger in his place and state in no uncertain terms that she would be "staying" with him ever again. Because she seemed to put more meaning behind that word than simply sleeping arrangements.

"But it will be difficult to protect you in a hotel, Babe."

Just then, Tony chimed in with, "she can stay with us."

Stephanie's head whipped over as she looked at Tony with surprise.

Clint piped up, "and where are we staying, Tony?"

"I just bought a house. It looks like it was previously secured by Rangeman, LLC, so we I would imagine it will be pretty easy for them to hook back up and update as they see fit. Then once everything squared away, I can keep it for a vacation home or just sell it. It's on the beach so I think it should keep its value pretty well. It will take a day to get the paperwork and everything settled, so I've booked a few suites on the top floor of a nearby hotel for tonight. Stephanie can have her own room in a suite with Avengers in the other rooms. I'd imagine everyone here can agree that would be pretty safe for one night?"

Bobby smirked, "I'm pretty sure you had her at 'beach'."

Ranger was staring at me intently. He jerked his head toward the hallway and said, "A word, Captain?"

Stephanie started shaking her head, "nope, not happening, Ranger."

"It's fine, Stephanie," I said before nodding my head in agreement and walking out into the hallway.

I heard someone, I thought it was Lester snicker, and Ranger barked out, without turning around, "Santos! Mats, 0700!"

We reached the hallway and strode a little further down to a smaller conference room. Ranger pulled out a fob like the one Stephanie had used to get in the building and pushed a button on it.

He turned to me and said in a warning tone, "Everything I've heard about you and managed to pull up on you on my way back here says that you're a gentleman. That you know how to treat women right. So, I don't have to worry about your intentions with Steph, right?"

I wasn't about to be intimidated by her ex, but I could also tell that he was very concerned about her safety, both physically and emotionally, so I said, "look, she and I just met, but I assure you, she's safe with me."

He gave a curt nod, "if she decides to go with you all, I will hold you personally responsible for her safety. We'll supplement her security with Rangeman, but I will ultimately hold you responsible. I may not be a super soldier, but trust me when I say that if anything happens to her, I can and will hunt you down. Just ask Barton."

I nodded and, with that, he pushed the button on his fob again and gestured me out the door.

_**Steph's POV**_

Well, shit. What the fuck. As soon as Ranger walked out of the room with the Captain, Hector pulled up the video feed for us all to see. We watched as Ranger led Steve to the small conference room down the hall, and when he scrambled the cameras I said, "nuh uh" and made a move to rush out and down the hall.

Tank, quicker than he looked, was there blocking my way. "Nope, you're going to leave them be, Little Girl."

Great. Ranger may not actually be Batman like I called him from time to time, but I was pretty sure that Steve was unarmed and, super soldier or not, Ranger might very well be killing him right now.

Hawkeye scoffed, "Manoso's good, I've seen him in action, but so is Cap. And trust me when I say that his shield isn't just for defense so he's definitely armed. I don't think either of them is going to kill the other one though, just give them a few minutes."

I turned to Lester and sighed, "out loud?" At the Merry Men's laughs I just said, "I've really got to get better about that!"

Just then the cameras unscrambled and I muttered "well, that was quick and no one seems to be dead" as Hector scrambled to turn off the feed in the conference room.

They walked back in, Steve returning to the back of the room and standing next to me again, slightly closer this time. Ranger took his seat at the head of the table.

"Steph," Ranger said, "have you thought about Mr. Stark's offer? Does that work for you?"

I mean, hell, Bobby was right, they had me at beach. And I'd love some more time to explore whatever this freaky connection was with Steve. I'd never felt anything like it. Ranger and I had always had chemistry, but this was different, more. Somehow this managed to be comforting and hot and everything else under the sun all rolled into one indescribable feeling.

I looked at Steve out of the corner of my eye and he was looking at me with great concentration, then I looked over at Tony who had a friendly smile on his face but looked genuinely concerned as well.

"Are you sure it's not too much trouble, Mr. Stark?"

"Aren't we polite? I'm pretty sure I introduced myself to you as Tony, so you should call me that." I could tell he was on the verge of saying something else, maybe about what else I could call him, but he looked at Steve and decided against it. I had a feeling Tony and Lester were probably a lot alike. "And yes, it's fine. I already bought the house. I wouldn't have done that or made the offer if I wasn't sure about it."

I nodded my head. I turned to Steve with the question in my eyes and I could immediately tell that was what he wanted. So I asked, "I assume you need to get that plane back, right?"

"Yes, the pilot actually left to fly back as soon as we got inside the building."

"Ranger, can we please borrow a couple of SUVs?"

Ranger nodded his assent.

"Okay, then you all figure out the rest of the security details for the hotel and the house. I'm going to go grab a few things from my desk and the women's locker room. I'll be back by the time you get that squared away and we can negotiate bodyguards and trackers. Don't go overboard… any of you. Remember, no direct threat, so for all we know it wasn't even aimed at me and it is over."

I heard everyone scoff skeptically and I just shrugged my shoulders and headed out, taking the elevator to the 5th floor. I stopped by the armory and grabbed an extra purse (yes, I got them to start stocking concealed carry purses around the time I'd insisted on Rangeman helping me get a LEGAL concealed carry permit), a stun gun, and some extra magazines for my gun.

I carried them with me and went back to my desk. I took my gun out of the small of my back, where I'd tucked it when I got to my apartment the first time. I put the gun, stun gun, and extra rounds in their respective pockets. I felt someone coming up behind me, but knew it wouldn't be a threat. I was only partially right it was the Black Widow.

"Hi…" I trailed off, not really sure what to call her. "Agent Romanoff? Is there something I can help you with?" I asked turning my back to her as I opened my drawer and started grabbing my backup makeup supply.

"You can call me Natasha. Or Nat. Or even Tasha if you'd like."

I got the sense that not a lot of people were given that privilege. Especially the last two. I turned and looked her in the eye and said, "Thanks. You can call me Steph."

She nodded back, "So, what's the deal with you and Ranger?"

"We're friends," I said with a shrug. I could feel her eyes on me, so I turned back to her making eye contact again and saying, "no, really. We had a… thing… a while ago, but Ranger doesn't do relationships and I couldn't settle for anything less, so that is over. Has been for months. He's still my mentor and my best friend though. It was weird for a while, but we've gotten past that now. There's nothing there."

"And the cop from the scene?"

I should have realized she would have caught that. "Ugh, Joe Morelli. He's my ex. We had an on-off relationship for a couple years. It was toxic, so I ended it. He is having a little more difficult of a time accepting that fact. So is my mother. But regardless, it is, without a doubt over."

She smiled at this. An actual smile. Then she said, "you know, Cap's single too."

I turned back around and fiddled with my purse as I said, "oh, okay" and tried to act like I really didn't care. In reality, my insides were fluttering with happiness at this news.

I motioned for her to follow me and walked down to Ranger's office. I unlocked the door and walked in. I asked her to turn around and then I opened one of his safes and took out my extra concealed carry permit, driver's licence, etc. that he insisted on keeping a copy of for just these instances. I also grabbed the cell phone that he kept in there pre-programmed with my phone number and contacts. I closed the safe and Natasha walked over and eyed everything as I started putting it away in my purse.

"You're sure it is over?"

"Yep. I think he'll always protect me though and love me in his own way. It just isn't a romantic thing anymore, more like a protective big brother. Well, eww, considering our past no, not that, but something along those lines."

Natasha chuckled and said, "okay. So, locker room?"

"Well, I'm pretty sure all my clothes burned up, so yeah. I have some extra uniforms there that will have to do until I can go shopping. I hope they let me go shopping sometime soon. And without too many guards- the men have a way of looking way too intense and scaring everyone in the mall."

"I would imagine so. Don't worry, we'll find a time to get you some clothes. Cap has some with him, but the rest of us don't, so we'll need to get some as well." Then she added with a wink, "we can get you some new shoes too."

We wound our way back to the conference room with Natasha telling me little stories about Steve along the way. I was surprised that she was being so open and friendly, I guess I'd assumed she'd be quiet and intimidating. At the same time though, I got the distinct impression that she really wanted to set me up with Steve. She wasn't subtle about it and I was certainly enjoying the information.

We walked back into the conference room and I noticed that some of the men had left. Steve had finally taken a seat, and was watching everyone and listening to the discussion with great care. He looked up though and smiled when I walked in. Wow. Ranger looked up too and just held out his hand expectantly.

I sighed and handed him my purse. He pulled the taser out and checked the battery. Then he pulled out my gun, made sure it was loaded, and checked that I had extra rounds with me. He noticed everything else I had and nodded his approval. I knew the safe would be restocked by lunchtime tomorrow. I noticed all of the Avengers watching the interaction, except for Natasha who seemed to have taken me at my word and believed me. She was whispering to Steve, who looked at me and grinned again. Guess she told him about Ranger and me.

I took my bag back and sat down in my usual seat next to Ranger. I looked at him and said, "guards?"

"Four Rangemen or two Avengers. Or one Avenger and two Rangemen. When you're working, this will be in addition to your partner so there'll be a second vehicle."

I thought about it for a minute then decided it was less than I was expecting and not worth fighting about, so I just nodded. I narrowed my eyes, "trackers."

I was surprised when this time Steve spoke up. By the tension that ratcheted up in the room, I figured this had been discussed in length. "Tony has a panic button on the way here for you now. It is a panic button only, no tracker. If you push it, it will notify the Avengers as well as Rangeman."

Interesting. I was expecting Ranger to insist on the trackers. If I had to guess, I'd say Steve and/or the other Avengers intervened on my behalf. I would happily accept this so I smiled and nodded. Then I looked over at Tony and said, "thanks." He just waved it off. I turned to Ranger who I knew would be having a very difficult time with this decision and murmured my thanks to him as well.

Just then Binky walked into the conference room and handed a package to Tony as well as a badge. He then proceeded to hand badges to Natasha, Clint, Bruce, Steve, and Thor as well.

Ranger said, "those badges will get you into the building and garage as well as this floor, the fifth floor, the gym, the shooting range, and the appropriate locker room. Looks like you finally have someone to share a locker room with, Steph."

Tony had opened his package then stopped by and conversed briefly with Hector and Lester. He then shut his mask for a few seconds before opening it back up and walking over to me. He handed me a simple bracelet with some charms on it. Upon closer inspection I noticed some handcuffs, a bomb, a doughnut, a birthday cake, an angel, and… the wonder woman symbol. How in the hell had he known that story?!

Tony chuckled and tapped his helmet saying, "Jarvis, my AI, is very good at finding things out. Okay, so this should be all set. If you wind up hanging around us longer, or this gets dragged out, we'll get you a better one. The bomb is actually a button, so if you want to test it out, just press that down."

I depressed the center of the bomb and almost instantly every cell phone in the room started blaring out an alarm sound, everyone pulled them out and checked their messages. Ranger slid his to me so that I could read the message and see that it showed that my alarm had been triggered and provided coordinates. I put the bracelet on and found it to be comfortable but fitted well- it wouldn't be falling off accidentally, even in a tussle.

"If someone's phone is within 100 feet of your signal, it will buzz rather than play the alert sound so as to hopefully not clue in anyone who shouldn't know that you've activated it. It will also connect Jarvis with the Control Room and Ranger directly for coordination between our teams."

"Wow, thanks. I can't believe you're doing this for me; we just met."

"We're not doing it for you, we're doing it for Capsicle. Now come on, we've got a hotel to check in to and I think we could all use some sleep."

I nodded and stood up. I turned to Ranger and gave him a quick hug before starting to follow the Avengers out of the room. He called out to me, "Babe, I know you got your backup phone. Leave it off for the night. I already let your family and friends know you're okay. You can delete all the messages tomorrow. And you can take tomorrow off if you want."

I just shook my head and he said, "okay, but you can come in a little late if you want. But you still have to go to the gym."

"I know! And I'll be in by 0700 to make sure you don't kill Les on the mats."

I saw Lester nod his gratitude to me.

Tony called out, "Expect a shipment in the morning. I'm going to go ahead and stock your gym up with some extra punching bags."

The Avengers just nodded their heads in acknowledgment while the Merry Men looked baffled by that comment. Ranger shrugged and then tossed me two sets of SUV keys and we were off.

"I can't believe I'm living with the Avengers temporarily," I thought, "I hope they understand what they've gotten themselves into."


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: **The characters and things you recognize in this story don't belong to me. They belong to Marvel and Janet Evanovich. I'm pretty sure you'll recognize which is which. Mistakes belong to me.

* * *

Chapter 3

_**Steve's POV**_

I stopped on our way out of the conference room to pick up my duffel bag and as I turned around I noticed Natasha exchange a meaningful look with Lester. That was odd. I'd noticed the two of them whispering to each other at some point during the security discussion earlier, and I'd found that strange at the time as well. Oh well, I'd figure it out eventually, so I just straightened up the rest of the way and moved on.

We all followed Stephanie down the staircase and into the garage. I watched as Stephanie pushed a button on another plastic key fob and an SUV's lights flashed. She pushed the same button on the other fob and the SUV next to it did the same. She glanced around the group then smiled and handled the second set of keys to Natasha. Natasha smirked and nodded her thanks before getting in the second SUV.

"Great, they've already formed an alliance. I knew we shouldn't have let Natasha go upstairs with her earlier! Women always do this."

Stephanie rolled her eyes and walked over to the drivers side of the car and yelled back, "get over it, Stark! And get in the car."

"Oooooh, bossy! I like her, Cap!" Tony said while climbing into the back seat of the SUV. I watched as Clint climbed into the front seat of Natasha's SUV and Thor climbed into the back. Bruce got into the backseat of Stephanie's SUV with Tony, so I shrugged when the latch to Stephanie's SUV opened and threw my duffle in the back and was surprised to see another small one already in there. Then I walked around and got into the front seat next to Stephanie. As I climbed in, I heard Tony informing her of which hotel to go to and watched as she programmed it into the SUV's GPS unit.

Then we sat. Stephanie didn't even start the car.

"Problem?" I asked.

"Yes, I see three grown men who don't know that they need to put their seatbelts on when they get in a car. And I'm not going anywhere until they do."

"Yes, ma'am."

"Please don't call me that, it makes me feel old," Stephanie sighed and Tony snickered in the background. "Just call me Steph. Or Stephanie if you'd rather. None of this ma'am business."

"Uh, sweetheart, I'm pretty sure you're the youngest one in this car. And Cap's got you beat by like 60 years. Also, I'm wearing a suit of armor, Cap heals crazy fast, and Bruce is practically invincible thanks to the other guy so..."

Stephanie just chuckled and said, "Seat belts boys, I'm waiting!"

Once we'd all buckled our seatbelts, she started the car and music immediately started playing. I wasn't too caught up on modern music, but I was pretty sure it was a genre called heavy metal, which I'll admit surprised me a little. As soon as she heard it, Stephanie chuckled and smiled the first true smile I'd seen from her.

"Metallica, nice!" came from Tony in the backseat. I guess that answered that question.

With that, Stephanie pulled out onto the street with Natasha behind her. Since it was late at night, or rather, early in the morning, we made it to the hotel quickly. I noticed Stephanie scanning for threats and tails the whole way, and I was impressed by the caution she was exercising. Although she hadn't seemed all that upset earlier, it was clear that she really was aware of the seriousness of the situation. Good. Hopefully that would make keeping her safe a little easier.

I know Ranger and his employees had badly wanted her wearing one of those trackers, and I felt sure they were tracking this car, but I'd put my foot down on the issue. She'd made her stance on being constantly tracked clear and I could understand her point of view. It would no doubt be stifling as a long-term solution.

What I didn't understand, and I'd said so much to the men earlier, was why, if she'd made it clear she wouldn't take a panic button with a tracker in it, they hadn't gotten her one without. It seemed as though, if they were that concerned about her, that would have been an easy compromise. They'd just looked at me baffled when I suggested it. Guess they were too busy complaining about her stubbornness to see their own. I was grateful that Tony had been able to get his hands on a simple panic button so quickly.

Stephanie found two parking spots on the street as near the hotel as possible, mumbling something about "Rangeman parking karma" to herself and we all piled out of the car. I grabbed both duffels with one hand, leaving the other free to fight if need be and just shook my head when Stephanie made to grab the second one. Without consciously discussing it, we all formed a circle around Stephanie as we walked toward the hotel. I thought she was going to comment on it, but instead she let it go.

"Did your car play Metallica when you started it up too? What's up with that?" questioned Natasha.

"Oh, yeah. The Merry Men spoil me. Well, they couldn't know which car I was going to get into, so they must have programmed both so they'd be covered either way."

"Merry Men?" questioned Thor.

"Right. You see, I used to joke about some of the things that Ranger could pull off by calling him Batman. Then one day I likened him to Robin Hood and then decided that his employees must be his 'Merry Men'. So that's what I call them now. Let me tell you, they did _not_ like it the first time they overheard it. But I figure they can deal with it."

Clint barked out a laugh. "I've been in the field with Ranger and some of his men a few times. They would always tell stories about Babe and Bomber and all those other nicknames I heard them use today. I never realized they were all one woman. Something tells me there isn't a lot they wouldn't do for you. Including die."

"Well, that seems fair since I'd die for them too."

Clint stopped scanning the area and just stared at her. "You better not because it would destroy every one of them." Clint replied, then he went back to his constant surveillance. I was going to have to ask him more about this group of men later. I found myself wanting to know everything about Stephanie and these people who meant so much to her.

Natasha had made a point of telling me that Stephanie was single. But being the only woman (other than Ella) in a building full of men like that, I still couldn't quite believe it.

Soon we were in the hotel lobby, and Clint broke off to monitor from a higher vantage point as we went to go check in. No sooner did the front desk attendant look up and notice Iron Man than he pushed a button on his phone and a manager came scurrying out of the office to the side. His step faltered slightly when he noticed everyone, especially Tony, in their combat gear, but he quickly continued on, greeting us profusely.

We were lead to a private elevator that serviced only the top two floors and shown to the suites. When we reached the door outside the first suite, Stephanie stopped short and stiffened. We all went on alert and noticed her gaze on a box sitting in the hallway outside the room.

"Is that from the hotel?" I asked the manager.

"No. And it wasn't here 30 minutes ago when housekeeping left after giving the suites a freshen up."

Stephanie groaned and hissed out, "boxes outside places I'm living are almost always from creepy stalkers or serial killers! Or creepy stalker serial killers!"

I think we all mentally filed that comment away to ask about later. Tony put his mask back on and then walked up to the box. Held out an arm and a scanner popped out and a light flitted across the box.

"It's safe," he confirmed. With that he picked up the note and handed it to Stephanie. She took one look at the envelope and let out a sigh of relief. The outside read "Babe".

It was from Ranger.

"See, it is shit like this that made me call him Batman."

We all chuckled a little, and it turned into full on laughter when it became clear from the expression on her face that she, once again, hadn't meant to say that out loud. I had a feeling we were all going to appreciate that quality. It would make it easier to get to know her; I doubted she was very good at witholding information even if she tried.

Apparently Tony had wrangled two three-bedroom suites for the group. Into the first he put Natasha and Clint, Stephanie, and I. He, Bruce, and Thor went into the second suite. Each bedroom had its own attached bathroom as well as a private sitting area and full closet. The suite itself had a full kitchen, a dining area, full laundry capabilities, and two sitting areas. One of the sitting areas had a piano off to the side and another bathroom attached to it.

One whole wall was windows and sliding doors onto a huge balcony. While I was setting Stephanie's bag in her room, I noticed her walking up to the windows looking out at the view. She was quickly pulled back by Clint as Natasha rushed over and closed the drapes.

"Right," Stephanie muttered to herself. "That was stupid; I know how this works."

Natasha just hooked her arm through Stephanie's and lead her off. "I'm just going to help Steph get settled and make sure she isn't hiding any injuries from us."

"I'm fine," Stephanie protested as they walked into the other room.

Clint turned to me with a grin on his face, "you know they're talking about you, right?"

That gave me pause. I actually had assumed that Natasha was checking Stephanie for injuries and otherwise making sure she was okay. Now that I thought about it, Clint was probably right.

I sidestepped the issue and asked, "so, you know this Ranger guy?"

This brought out a chuckle, "yeah. He's former army special forces. Black ops. Still a mercenary for hire, mostly for the US government. He and his team are badass and I for one am glad they're on our side on this one. We only crossed paths a handful of times, but I can tell you that while they were always willing to do legally gray things, they never did anything they thought was morally wrong."

"When I first met them they were all very withdrawn, you could tell they were only living ghosts of lives. The type that you knew were okay with the idea of not coming back from a mission. It was part of what made them so good at the types of missions they were given. Around the time they started telling stories about her," Clint gestured in the direction Stephanie and Natasha had gone, "you could see a little bit of light come back on inside of them. I don't think they'll ever be whole, but I think she saved them. From what I hear, they consult and offer advice but don't really take up missions any more. I meant what I said earlier. I think every one of them, at least the ones she'll be close with, would die for her because it would kill them if she died."

With that he walked over to the piano and tapped out a few notes. "But, what do I know. Like I said, I only met them a handful of times. Oh, and one last thing. If they were an item right now, there's no way he'd let her be here instead of with him."

I thought about what he'd said. He may have only met the man and his team a few times, but one of the things that made Clint one of the best spies and assassins in the world was his ability to assess situations and read people. The same was true for Natasha. They didn't trust anyone that I'd met before, outside of our team. And if Clint was vouching for these men, then you can bet they were trustworthy.

They'd also both taken to Stephanie shockingly well. Natasha didn't let many people get near her, but she was allowing Stephanie to. We all had finely honed instincts, especially after recent events with SHIELD and we were all gunshy about trusting people. The fact that everyone else was accepting her reassured me that it wasn't just attraction drawing me to her and letting down my guard.

Natasha walked back into the room and looked a Clint, the two exchanging some sort of silent message between themselves. Then Natasha smiled, "couple of bruises and scrapes, but all minor. She'll be right as rain in the morning. She's just taking a quick shower."

We quickly all went about our ways and did the same before gathering in the room again five minutes later. Stephanie was still in the shower, but I was pretty sure that was normal for civilians. Especially females.

There was a knock on the door and I watched as Natasha pulled a gun, holding it at her side before peeking out the peephole and opening the door. When she pulled the door fully open, I recognized Ella from earlier. She stood there with many bags in her arms and said, "Ranger sent me with some supplies, if that's alright?"

Natasha nodded her head and moved to the side. I stepped forward and took the bags from her. "I've got one more stuff down in the car with Tank; I can make it in one trip if one of you can help me." Before I could set the bags down, Clint stepped forward to escort her back down to the car and get the remaining items.

Moments after they left, Tony strode into the suite followed by Bruce and Thor. He was wearing only a robe. I raised my eyebrow at him and he just said, "Hey, your alarm went off in the middle of the night! I rushed out of the tower with my suit assembling around me and forgot to put on clothes."

"That explains why you kept your suit on the whole time. You should have said something, we could have found clothes to fit you at Rangeman." Stephanie had walked back into the room, face clear of makeup and hair wet. She was breathtaking.

Tony just shrugged and said, "I'm fine." He then turned to Natasha and me adding, "Hey Capsicle, Natalie, where'd you get the bags? What's in them?"

Just then, the door opened again admitting Clint and Ella. Stephanie rushed forward, but I beat her to Ella retrieving the bags again. "Oh, Ella, you shouldn't have come out this late. We would have been fine until morning."

"Nonsense, darling, I'm happy to help. Besides, Ranger had Tank drive me, so it really was no bother. I'm sorry I wasn't here sooner though, some of the items were a tad hard to find. Now, I'll just be getting on my way. Call if you need anything and I'll pick it up and have it for you tomorrow."

We all chimed our thanks and she was back out the door in a flash. "That woman is a saint!" Stephanie exclaimed.

We started sorting through the bags and noticed that each person had a bag with their name on it. Except for Stephanie, who was clearly her favorite. Stephanie had three bags and she was squealing with delight as she went through them. She then dashed off to change. We all followed suit then gathered again at the rest of the bags, and pulled out some toiletries and essentials as well as more food.

"If Ella was bringing all of this, then what's in the box that was here when we arrived?" Bruce asked.

Stephanie went over to the table and opened the envelope. Inside was a note that just said, "thought you might need this."

She opened the box and inside was a bag and a smaller box. The bag had in it some military-grade pepper spray on a keychain. Guess that had been missing when he'd gone through her weapons earlier. She set that aside and pulled out the smaller box. Inside was a bunch of ice packs and a pint of Cherry Garcia. Stephanie stared at it for a full minute and then she burst into tears.

Bruce looked startled, like a deer in the headlights and Tony just went awkward. Thor looked pained and reached over and thumped her on the shoulder. Then the three of them grabbed one of the bags of food, muttered that they'd be back the following morning, and hastily went back to their suite.

Natasha gave me a pointed look and gestured toward Stephanie on the couch. Then she and Clint busied themselves putting away supplies and dishing up plates for the four of us. They left plates in the sitting room for Stephanie and I and a spoon for the ice cream then waved, gestured toward the couch again, pantomimed comforting her, and went into their bedroom, shutting their door firmly.

I looked around and realized I was now alone with Stephanie for the first time since we were running away from a bomb. Granted, she was crying, but it was still a momentous occasion. I cautiously lowered myself down onto the couch next to her and slowly reached my arm around her.

As soon as my arm touched her shoulder she curled into me and just started crying harder. I hadn't been in this situation before, so I just went with my instincts and brought my other arm up and pulled her more firmly into me. I ran my hands soothingly up and down her back and made little shushing sounds until she quieted down. I held her like this for a few minutes, breathing in her scent when I realized that she had fallen asleep in my arms. One part of me felt like I was king of the world that I had made her feel so comfortable and safe that she was able to set her worries aside and sleep.

The other part of me was terrified. I had no idea what to do. I didn't know if I should stay there and just let her sleep on me, get up and leave her on the couch to sleep, or get up and carry her into her room to sleep. The last option seemed like it was the best, but I didn't really think I should be alone with her in her bedroom. It just wasn't right- especially since we'd just met that very day. Just sitting there was a similar dilemma- I enjoyed getting to hold her close, but it just didn't feel right. Leaving her on the couch, however, felt kind of callous. I mean, she was obviously upset since she'd just cried herself to sleep.

I was still sitting there contemplating my options when Natasha and Clint's door cracked open a tiny bit. Obviously noticing the silence, they crept out with their dishes. I turned my head and made eye contact with them, showing all of my bewilderment. I mouthed, "help!" and watched Natasha pass her plate to Clint.

She snuck closer and before I could do anything about it, whipped out her phone and took a picture. I didn't want to jostle Stephanie awake, so I shot her a menacing look. Clearly she wasn't concerned though because she just kept tapping and then hit send and sent a smirk to Clint who had rejoined us. One minute later, Thor, Tony, and Bruce were standing there with huge grins. I shot Natasha a stern look then looked around at my teammates and whispered, "she just cried until she fell asleep! What do I do now?!"

"You two are so cute together," Natasha offered.

"Not helping." I gritted out.

"What's wrong? Is the big old Captain afraid of the teeny, tiny girl?" Tony taunted in a whisper.

I threw my head back, closed my eyes, and counted to 10. During that time, I heard more camera phone clicks and realized that now they had pictures making it look like I was asleep too. I let out a breath and turned pleading eyes to Bruce.

He chuckled and said, "you can't leave her like that, she'll be sore in the morning, especially after everything you two went through tonight. Take her into her room and set her on her bed. She'll thank you for it in the morning."

I looked at Natasha who reluctantly nodded having already had her fun, "he's right."

I carefully moved one arm under her legs and moved the shifted the other one on her back to help stabilize her as I picked her up. I didn't fail to notice another camera click coming from Natasha's direction. I just ignored it, goal in mind, as I gently carried her into the bedroom, turned off her lights, and quickly exited the room and shut the door behind me.

I stalked over to Natasha and grabbed her phone, deleting the images. That's right, I'd picked up technology pretty well once I got used to the concept. Natasha rolled her eyes, "Come on Cap, what do you hope to accomplish? I'm a spy. If you think I don't already have those pictures backed up four different ways, you're wrong."

I handed her back her phone and growled at her, "that wasn't nice."

Her lips twitched as she replied, "maybe not, but it sure was fun."

_**Steph's POV**_

I woke up to a soft knocking noise on the door. I looked around and realized I wasn't in my room or anywhere that I remembered sleeping before. Actually, I didn't even remember going to sleep here.

"Steph," a man's voice called, "It's 6am, and you told Ranger we'd be back at the office by 7."

Ugh, morning. I hate morning. Then suddenly, yesterday's events came rushing back to me and I recognized the voice!

"I'll be out in a few minutes, Steve!"

I rushed into the bathroom and took care of business. Then I quickly brushed my teeth, tamed my hair as best I could considering I'd gone to sleep with it wet, and changed into the Rangeman uniform I'd brought with me.

I walked out into the sitting area and there were all six Avengers. It really wasn't some kind of weird dream. Of course, as exciting as that may sound, there was also the fact that I was now both homeless and carless, so that put a damper on things. Thankfully I could smell coffee.

They all looked up at me and offered their various "hello"s and "good morning"s, and I just walked right past them, waving a hand in their general direction. I made a beeline for the coffee machine and poured myself a mug full, fixed it with a bunch of sugar and cream, and then downed it. I poured myself a second cup, fixed it, and then took it with me back into the sitting room with a smile on my face. They were all staring at me in surprise as I said "good morning" in a sunny voice.

"Oooooookkkaaayyy," said Tony, "now we know, coffee first for you."

I nodded and said, "yep, if it is before 10am and I'm awake, you'll want to make sure I've had coffee before you talk to me if at all possible. Unless I'm hungover then it is The Cure all the way."

"The cure?" Bruce enquired.

"Large Coke and large fries from McDonalds. Works every time."

I could see them all mentally processing that.

"I'd try that sometime," commented Tony, "but I think it is no longer possible for me to get hangovers."

Natasha just snorted.

"Okay," I asked, "what's the plan here. Are we packing up and taking this stuff down to the car with us now? Are we coming back for it later?"

"We're coming back for it later," came the reply, this time from Steve.

"Okay, well, let me go grab my shoes and my bag and I'm ready to go when you all are."

"Aren't you going to eat?"

"I'll grab a piece of fruit when we get there, I really can't eat much before I workout."

Steve just handed me a muffin and said, "eat, you didn't eat anything last night."

I shrugged, peeled off the wrapper and started eating it as I walked into my room. I grabbed my shoes and my bag. I stopped back on the couch and sat down to tie my shoes. When I started to get up, I noticed Steve holding out the can of pepper spray that Ranger had sent over.

"Right, good call." I said, while digging out the keys to the SUV. Steve took them from me and carefully strong on the pepper spray leaving me to finish the muffin.

When I finished he said, "you've got a belt on that uniform, why don't you carry your gun on it so you're ready just in case." I nodded in agreement and he pulled it out for me, checked that it was loaded, verified the safety was on, and handed it to me. I settled it into my holster then did the same with my taser (he checked the charge on it first) and cell phone and thanking him as he handed them to me.

I looked up and saw everyone watching us with amused looks.

"What?"

"Nothing, that was just very domestic of you both. In a badass, pepper spray kind of way," said Clint.

"On Asgard it is a sign of great affection to check over someone's weapons before battle and to trust someone to do so for you," added Thor.

I felt myself blush, and Tony said, "aww, look, they even have the same adorable blush."

Looking for something to do, I flicked my phone open and powered it on. We all started walking toward the door and I pulled my rangeman hat on as my phone started beeping incoming message alerts. I just fixed it onto my belt, letting it keep going, as I walked down to the elevator and pushed the button.

I turned around when I realized no one was still with me. They were just staring at me and the phone on my hip which hadn't stopped buzzing or beeping yet. The elevator door opened up and I held it open calling out, "are you coming with me or not?"

They all rushed forward and finally, Natasha looked at me and asked, "how many messages do you have."

"Well, I'm sure I have how ever many are the limit to each for this phone. I'm actually surprised it hasn't just crashed, but then again, it looks like it is a newer model." I sighed and added, "alright, so it works like this. I'm from a neighborhood of Trenton known as The Burg. In the Burg, everyone is raised to do as their told, marry within the Burg, and lead the perfect Burg life. For women that means getting married, not working, and popping out as many kids as possible while ignoring any dalliances on your husbands part."

I glanced around at everyone as we exited the elevator and started walking to the car. They were all circled around me, so I continued on. "I went to college, which was frowned upon and drew all the Burg gossip, and got a business degree. As soon as I graduated, I let my mother bully me into believing I wanted the Burg lifestyle and married the first 'decent' guy who asked. His name was Dickie," I said, breezing through their snorts of laughter and continued, "we were married for about five minutes when I found him cheating on me with Joyce Barnhardt on our dining room table. I threw them out of the house and we had the loudest, most public divorce in the history of the Burg. Again, this drew the Burg gossip."

We paused when we got to the cars. Everyone was constantly surveying the area, but clearly considered the thread level low enough to finish my story. "Things were going okay for me, I had a steady job as a lingerie buyer and I was getting by until the company I was working for got shut down by the FBI for a whole host of tax, embezzlement, etc. etc. I had savings for a while, but when those ran out, I blackmailed my cousin Vinnie into giving me a job at his bail bonds office."

"That's where I met Ranger when Vinnie's office manager, Connie called in a favor to have Ranger train me in how to be a bounty hunter. I still do some bounty hunting for Vinnie on the weekends while training my replacement, Lula. But most of it I do for Rangeman these days. I like it better that way, I have a partner and I tend to get knocked around less now."

I noticed Steve's hands clench into fists at that. Oh well, depending on how long this all took and how long they stuck around he'd probably see it at this point.

"Anyway," I continued, "obviously being a bounty hunter and working for a security company really, really isn't 'Burg'. Plus with all the stalkers and explosions, they love to gossip. Anytime something happens in Trenton, someone in the Burg sees it. When they see it they call someone else, who calls three more people and so on. The story usually gets more ridiculous as it goes. Adding to the mix the fact that you all were quite publically recognizably seen there, and Captain America saved my life and you can bet that 1) my voicemail box and text messages are full of gossip seekers as well as my mother calling to yell at me about embarrassing her and 2) we're on the front page of at least the Trenton newspapers, but probably the New Jersey ones as well."

I finished and there was silence as they all let that sink in. Then I said, "okay, let's get to Rangeman!"

I was surprised when Natasha handed her keys to Tony then took my keys and handed them to Steve. She then got into the back of my SUV, pulling me with her. Steve got in the driver's seat and Clint took the front passenger seat. As Steve started driving, she asked if we could turn down the music, so he switched it off.

"Stephanie, I'm really sorry. I think I did something really dumb."

"Okay…"

"Last night when you started crying and Steve was comforting you, you fell asleep on him on the couch."

I looked up and caught Steve's eyes in the rearview mirror. I was going to apologize, but I could tell from the look that he didn't mind, so I didn't. Then to my surprise, he winked at me and chuckled when I blushed.

Natasha continued, "when I brought Clint and my dishes out to put away, I saw you and it was just so cute that I took some pictures. I sent them to the team, and they came in and we were teasing him a little because we've never seen that side of him and he really didn't know what to do. He got frustrated and closed his eyes to try to calm down and I took some pictures like that so it looked kinda like he was sleeping too. And then, umm, I took some pictures when he picked you up to carry you into your room."

"Alright, I mean, that's not my favorite thing to hear, but I get why you did it, so that's fine."

"Well, that's not all. I also texted them to Lester," Natasha finished with a wince.

"Lester Santos? How do you even have his number?"

"Well, I think you and Cap could be really great together, and I could tell yesterday that he felt the same, so we talked about it some and decided we'd work on it together. When I took the pictures last night I sent them to him as a progress update."

"Okay, I get that you couldn't know this, plus your the Black Widow so there's really nothing I could do to you, but Les is a huge gossip and prankster. Now, he and the rest of the Rangmen will keep all their gossip inside Rangeman, so we're safe as far as that is concerned, but you can bet your ass he's done something dumb with them. And sent them to all of Rangeman with some stupid email and tagline. And I don't just mean Rangeman Trenton, I mean all the Rangeman offices."

"Ouch. I'm really sorry, Steph."

"I know. All the same, I said we were going to the gym early to keep Ranger from killing Les on the mats, and that was mostly a joke because he wouldn't kill him. They're cousins. But, when we get there, I'm going to find out what email he sent. And then in all likelihood, I'm going to kill Lester. So you'll have that to think about."

With that I stared out the window and began plotting my strategy. I could tell Natasha felt bad, so I just reached over, gave her a one armed hug and said, "I'm not going to lie, this is going to be a VERY uncomfortable day around the office. Especially for Steve and I. But, you couldn't have known, so seriously, don't worry about it."

We pulled up to the Rangeman garage and I fobbed my way in and instructed Steve to stop after he'd pulled forward a bit so I could fob the next SUV in. Then we all got into the elevator together and stopped at 5 first. I made a beeline for Hal's desk and motioned for the others to follow me. I smiled at him sweetly and said, "Good morning, Hal, how are you today?"

He looked at me nervously, then at the Avengers, then back at me. "Good Steph, what's going on?"

"Could you do me a quick favor and go see who is on Bomber duty today? I don't want to distract whoever is on monitors with these guys and they're following me around endlessly right now?"

"Sure" he stammered out then headed off.

As soon as he rounded the corner, I sat in his chair and opened up his email, Natasha and Steve right behind me. Clint clued the others in and then they were all crowded around me, except for Clint who was keeping a lookout.

I clicked on an email from Lester that's subject read, "This Time Beautiful's Going for An Upgrade". Inside the in huge letters he wrote "From Batman to Captain America: No more fake superheroes for our Bombshell Bounty Hunter!" Then he'd made a sort of collage out of the pictures Natasha had sent him and included them full-sized as well as attached individually. I noted the to field had all of the various Rangeman offices with a groan. I could feel the tension coming off Steve. Natasha reached out and I just said, "it's okay, but don't touch me right now, there's something I have to do."

With that I stalked over to the stairs and slammed the door open. I exited on the third floor and walked straight to the gym. As I walked in, followed by the others, the place went deadly silent. Lester and Ranger stopped their sparring match on the mats and looked over. I saw Lester gulp and pale when he saw my face. "Morning, Beautiful!" he tried, with a false sense of cheer that he clearly wasn't feeling.

I didn't respond, just strode over to the mats and pointed at Ranger and then motioned for him to leave the ring. I then stopped at an empty chair next to it and pulled off my utility belt. I looked at the bracelet and went ahead and took it off, handing it to Steve for safe keeping. "Uh, Stephanie" he started, and I just glared at him and he shut up. Smart man. I took my CAT boots off and then pulled off my shirt leaving myself in a sports bra with a cami over it. Steve sucked in a breath.

I climbed into the ring and took up a fighting stance and began circling Lester. I waited until he charged and used his weight to flip him before bouncing back out of his reach. Then I went into my zone. I don't know that I'd ever fully made it here before, but I was motivated in that moment. And let me tell you, I kicked ass. After a few trips to the ground, he wasn't holding back any more. Finally Lester was on the ground after one particularly vicious knee had gotten him in his nuts and Tank was hauling me away and off the mats. "Alright, Little Girl, he's had enough."

I just scoffed before going over to a treadmill and turning it on and starting to run. I watched Bobby approach the mat to check on Lester and called out, "don't worry, I didn't break anything. I am sorry though, you guys always wear a cup when you fight me and I didn't know he wasn't wearing one!"

I heard Tony laugh at that, and then was surprised when Clint climbed onto the treadmill on one side of me and started running. Ranger climbed onto the one on the opposite side of me. I kept watching in the mirror as Steve said something to Natasha. He came over and he reached my bracelet out to me. "Thanks, I said."

"Anytime," he said with a nod. Then he started walking back before turning around with a smile and calling out, "nice work, by the way."

Ranger was silent through the whole exchange. Finally he said, "you think I'm going to be angry or it is going to be awkward. I'm not angry. We both agreed you should move on and I couldn't give you what you need." I nodded, and he continued, "and it will only be awkward if you let it. Please don't let it be awkward again. I thought we were past that and I had my best friend back."

I looked over at the plea in his eyes and I nodded my head. "Okay, Batman," I said with a grin at his shocked laugh, "too soon? And for the record nothing happened. I saw the ice cream you sent and couldn't stay in denial land any more so I started crying. He comforted me and I fell asleep on him. Natasha took pictures, and he carried me into the bedroom so I didn't wake up with a crick in my neck from sleeping on the couch. That's it."

"I believe you."

"Good."

Clint had been silent the whole time, taking in the exchange. Then he said, "I know you're upset and running can help, but I think you're going to want to watch this. You know how you said that Natasha was Black Widow so it's not like there's anything you can do to her anyway?"

"Yeah."

"Well, Cap's a little… old fashion. And he's pissed off because he's worried about your reputation."

I noticed Ranger's lips twitch at that. I just nodded and said, "okay…"

"Cap wouldn't hit most women unless they attacked him, and even then he'd subdue if at all possible. But Natasha's one of the few people in the world he can spar with and have anything even approaching a fair fight. Except for Thor. And probably the Hulk, but we haven't tried that yet."

That's when looked further back in the mirror and noticed that both Steve and Nat were warming up on the mats. I slowly turned my pace down for a quick cool down then turned off the machine and walked over toward the mats with interest, putting my bracelet back on as I went.

I stared in fascination as they fought. It was pure speed and efficiency on Steve's part with a dash of elegance, almost like dancing thrown in on Natasha's end. I felt Clint wince a little at one particularly hard hit by Steve, and looked over to see if he felt like someone needed to intervene, but he just said, "she's fine, she can take this and more. She actually _has_ fought the Hulk."

The fight went on for an hour, with every Rangeman who wasn't on monitor duty or out of town stopping in to watch some or all of it, before Steve finally made her tap out. Or maybe it was let her tap out. They both collapsed on the mats exhausted and I heard Natasha ask, "we good?"

"Yep," was Steve's reply.

"Steph, we good?!" she called out to me.

I climbed into the ring and offered her a hand up and a smile, "Yeah, Nat, we're good."

She grabbed my hand and let me help her to her feet. She smiled at me and then with a wink we reached our hands out to Steve in unison. He pretended to let us help him up then gave Natasha a playful shove and winked at me before climbing out of the ring.

As Natasha and I climbed down, Steve reached up a hand to helping me this time. He held onto my hand and inspected it and then the other. They were a little bruised but not much since I didn't really punch much. It wasn't my best move. "You should tape your hands next time," he said, looking me in the eye. "And we need to work on your punches."

"Do a lot of boxing? Because I'm pretty sure I'm hopeless on that front. Many have tried to fix it before, so now I just do other things instead."

The other Avengers scoffed, and Steve smiled, "yeah, I box some. Don't worry, you're not hopeless."

Natasha added, "you did pretty well with Lester, but I still have a lot of work to do with you."

I turned to her, "yeah, about that. After what I just saw, I'm not so sure that's a good idea."

"It's a great idea," Natasha and Steve said at the same time.

"Fine, but if you kill me, I'm not going to be happy about it."

She laughed and said, "deal. We'll start tomorrow though, okay, I'm suddenly feeling a little tired this morning."

* * *

**A/N:** So... what do you think? BTW, Chapter 4 is written, just waiting for me to feel compelled to post it. Feel free to compel me!


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: **The characters and things you recognize in this story don't belong to me. They belong to Marvel and Janet Evanovich. I'm pretty sure you'll recognize which is which. Mistakes belong to me.

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Chapter 4

_**Steph's POV**_

As I left the locker room after cleaning up for the day, my eyes immediately landed on Lester standing in the hallway waiting for me. I turned my head and saw Steve leaning up against a wall, shield affixed to his back again, trying to look casual.

"I'm fine, Lester would never do anything to hurt me."

"Who said I'm here for you? Maybe I'm concerned you'll beat Lester up again."

Lester and I both laughed at that, and Lester just waved Steve over to join us as we started walking up to five.

"I want to apologize to you both, I shouldn't have shared those pictures that way. I was excited when I got them, but that's no excuse. I hope you still can trust me, Beautiful."

I reached over and gave Lester a quick, one-armed hug. "You're fine, I still trust you Les. I always knew you were a gossip anyway."

Lester looked back at Steve who was trailing behind us and he nodded adding, "If Stephanie's fine with it, then we're fine."

"Thanks." Then Lester grinned, "I do have to say though, Beautiful, I'm proud of you. That's the best any of us have ever seen you fight. I don't think it was worth that last kick, but other than that I'm kinda glad it happened."

I narrowed my eyes at him and he held up his hands in surrender. "Okay, okay, but it was some seriously good fighting. Now, to make it up to you, how about we see if we can partner today? Breakfast and lunch are on me! Anything you want!"

I rolled my eyes and said, "Darn right they are! I'll talk to Ranger, see what I can do."

Lester opened the door and held it for me, then let Steve through too asking as he passed, "you coming with us?"

"It's up to Steph, but Nat and I talked and we're hoping to join you for the day. Actually, I know we said only 2 Avengers were required, but I think Clint and Thor want to come too, if you'll let them." The last part was addressed to me.

I looked over at Les who nodded his assent, so I shrugged, "sure, but you guys have to do what we say. Two of you can ride in our SUV with us, but if we get any skips, you'll have to ride in the second car."

Steve agreed and went off to tell the others, and Lester went to grab any files that we already had. I walked down to Ranger's office and knocked on the open doorway.

"Babe."

"Hey, Boss," I said with a grin. Ranger didn't really like when I called him that. "Lester wants to make the whole picture thing up to me today, and we were wondering if we could switch to be partnered together for the day?"

"Already done. Who've you got?"

Lester walked in with a file in his hands, he gave it to Ranger, and I scooted around to read over Ranger's shoulder.

"Oh, right, Buster. Couldn't find a lot on him through the search programs, so we'll probably need to run some surveillance on him before we come up with a plan."

Steve, Natasha, Clint, and Thor had joined us, taking seats on the couch and extra chairs in the office. They were quietly listening with interest.

"Babe, this says possession with intent to distribute but," he looked at Lester who was already nodding in agreement, "I think this guy is a little higher up the food chain. I'm thinking supplier. Stop by the Bonds Office and see if they have any more files, then go ahead and pick up any easy ones if there are any. Then run surveillance and see what you can get on Buster. You two are not to attempt an apprehension without a full team, got it? We'll either do a take down for him, or a distraction. It depends on your intel."

I glanced over at Steve. I knew distraction was likely, and I was pretty sure he wouldn't like it if we went that route. Something tells me his old fashioned side might not appreciate that. "No problem. Though, if we go the distraction route, I'm going to need an outfit."

Ranger nodded then looked at the four Avengers sitting in his office. "Who is going with you today?"

"I know we agreed on two, but if it's alright with you, these four would all like to join in today."

"Sure. Feel free to supply them anything they need. Call if you run into Buster and need backup. Don't get shot."

I laughed at the reversal of our customary farewell and responded, "Don't go crazy."

With that I lead the way out of the office and down to the garage level before stepping into the room next to the gun range. Lester and I walked over to the Kevlar vests and grabbed one each before strapping them on. "Anyone else want one?"

Natasha and Clint stepped forward. Since Natasha and I were about the same size, I handed her one of my spares while Lester helped Clint find one the right size for him. Steve and Thor declined.

Ella had clearly provided everyone with some clothing options here as well. Steve and Thor were in jeans and tshirts, Steve with a leather jacket that fit him perfectly over it. Nat and Clint, however, had chosen combat gear. Those two were practically in Rangeman uniforms, all they were missing was the logo. Plus you know, Natasha had her bites strapped on and Clint was wearing a bow and arrow.

Then we stepped over to the weapons. Lester and I both already had our primary pieces on us, but since we were going to be in gang territory asking questions about a probable drug supplier, we strapped on some more. I grabbed myself a clutch piece and put it in an ankle holster under my pants. Then I strapped on a couple knives.

Everyone was looking around the room in interest.

"Anyone need anything?" Lester offered.

They all just shook their heads- they'd brought their full armories with them last night and then here with them this morning. I suppose they wouldn't be very good guards otherwise.

We headed over to the SUVs and Lester and I climbed into his with Steve and Natasha in the back seat. Clint and Thor got into the other and we headed off.

"Okay, first stop is Tasty Pastry for doughnuts! We'll get whatever everyone wants and an extra box to take with us to the Bail Bonds office. I feel like I should apologize or warn you in advance about Connie and Lula, but I don't even know how to describe it."

So that was what we did. When we pulled up to the Bonds Office, we got out and left Clint and Thor in their car, watching over ours. Steve was carrying the doughnuts and Lester held the door open. I walked in and Lula looked up and said, "Skinny ass white girl, don't you come in here without doughnuts. You didn't return any of my calls last night! If you think…" she trailed off as she saw Natasha follow me in. Natasha's lips twitched as she asked, "skinny ass white girl?"

Lula stared for a second and said, "yeah, well, you should know seeing as you're one too."

Natasha cocked an eyebrow at this but didn't say anything. At that point Lester stepped in with Steve behind him and Connie and Lula just stared with their mouths hanging open. Maybe this was going to be easier than I thought. I directed Steve to put the doughnuts down on Connie's desk. Then I walked over to the stack of folders in front of her and flipped through them all, pulling out the ones for Rangeman. I smiled and waved at them both and then we walked back out to the car.

We climbed back in, Lester and I laughing hysterically, and Lester said, "huh, I've never seen that before. We'll have to keep that in mind as a Lula-defence mechanism. Who knows if it will work a second time though."

"Maybe not with Steve, but we could take Thor in next time," came my reply. At that Lester turned and gave me a fist bump and we started going through our new files, passing them back and forth.

"Okay, we're going to need to do research on most of these before we take them on, so they won't be this morning. But I think we should go after this guy, Alec Meigs, now. He's in the Rangeman stack because of the high bond and the fact that it's assault with a deadly. If you look at the case, the deadly was a baseball bat and he so drunk that he thought the man he was attacking was a ghost. Not too dangerous. Plus, it's early and he's probably still hung over."

Lester nodded his agreement and I gave him the address and off we went. When we got there, I told Steve and Natasha to wait in the car as Lester and I got out. I went to the front door and Lester went around the back. After waiting until Lester was sure to be in place I rang the doorbell and started banging on the door.

Normally what happens here is: they come to the door, I introduce myself and explain that I need to take them in to court to reschedule their appointment, and then they run out the back door right into Lester's waiting arms. Unfortunately luck wasn't on my side that morning as it seemed Alec was as much of a morning person as I was and similarly not hung over.

I started banging on the door again yelling, "Bond enforcement" again when it suddenly swung open and I caught a movement in the corner of my eye. A baseball bat. I ducked down to dodge the blow and before any of our backup could clear the curb running toward the front door, I'd pulled my taser and he was down for the count. I called out to Lester and he came jogging back around the house as I finished restraining Alec.

Lester and I dragged him up and headed back toward the SUV, and Thor, Clint, Steve, and Natasha were just standing there, arms crossed, leaning against the cars. Lester looked over at me and said, "what'd I miss?"

"Baseball bat."

"He get you?"

"Of course not."

"Okay."

We finally reached the sidewalk and marched him straight to our SUV and shackled him into the back seat. Lester looked at the wheel again, and we drove off leaving four Avengers standing at the curb. I watched in my mirror as they scrambled into their car and quickly caught up to us.

"So, what do you think they're talking about right now?" I asked.

Lester sarcastically replied, "Beautiful, I have no idea."

"I don't know what they were thinking was going to happen when we went after a skip," I muttered, mostly to myself.

"Thinking about and seeing are two very different things. And I for one thought if anything happened, it'd be inside the house or out back, so they wouldn't have to see it. I've been on Bomber duty before, so I have some understanding of what it feels like to watch some guy who has you outweighed by at least 80 pounds take a swing at you and know that I'm too far away to keep it from landing no matter how fast I move. I'm just glad for his sake that he didn't land the hit. He would have been drinking out of a straw for months. And then it would have been Rangeman's turn."

We pulled up to the Police Station, ditched our extra weapons under our seats, and I grabbed our right to apprehend paperwork. Then we went around back and unshackled Alec and pulled him out of the SUV. I waved the others off when they started to get out of the second SUV. Clint rolled his window down and I said, "just give us five minutes. If it's longer than that, you can come in, but nothing is going to happen. Oh! And you should probably leave your extra weapons in the car if you do come in."

When we got to booking, they were backed up. We had to wait five minutes to even get started on the process. I was pretty sure there was a car full of superheroes who were feeling a little iffy about my safety at the moment and weren't going to wait patiently for too much longer. I was trying to speed the officer along in writing up our body receipt when from behind me I heard, "Congratulations on bringing in one guy without causing a scene, Cupcake."

Lester shifted closer to me, and neither of us turned around.

"Oh, that's sweet, Santos. How many of you is she fucking now. I hear Ranger got bored and tossed her aside. Though word is that she went to a hotel and spent the night with the Avengers last night, so maybe she picked up a few tricks."

I reached back and grabbed Lester before he could make a move. I pulled him forward and pointed at the body receipt murmuring an "I got this". I was silently praying that Steve and the others hadn't come in yet as I turned around. I looked past Joe and saw that I really didn't have a shred of luck on my side this morning. Steve was behind Joe, close enough to hear what he'd said and looking pissed. Natasha had a hand across his chest, restraining him. For now.

I sighed and looked at Joe. He looked like he'd been on a marathon bender last night and hadn't bothered to take a shower this morning.

"Whether you believe it or not, I'm not sleeping with any of them," I replied mildly, "what do you want, Joe?"

"When are you going to quit this stupid job, come back home, and marry me?"

"I'm not planning on quitting my job anytime soon, but I can say with certainty that I will never marry you, Joe. You need to move on."

Joe stepped forward and grabbed onto my shoulder. "Come on, Cupcake. You've had your fun but you're a disaster at this. Those men only keep you around for convenience sake and because they're waiting to take turns with you. Look at you, you look like a little girl playing dress up."

"Let. me. go."

Instead of doing so, Joe grabbed onto my other shoulder with his second hand and started shaking me.

"I'm pretty sure the lady said for you to let her go. You need to do that now," commanded Steve.

I looked around the room and noticed all the cops that had gathered around, hands down by their sides, near their weapons. This could get really ugly, really fast.

"Unhand Lady Stephanie at once!" boomed Thor's voice.

"Oh good, gang's all here," I thought to myself.

Joe opened his mouth to spew some more vile filth, I'm sure, when I heard from right next to me, "Detective Morelli, let her go and get your ass in my office right now!" It was Joe's captain, thank goodness.

Joe's jaw twitched and he squeezed me extra hard giving me one last shake before letting me go and stalking away.

I turned around and looked at Lester. "Do you have that body receipt?"

He nodded, "Yep. But you're going to go over there with Robin, and you're going to file a report before we leave."

I didn't really want to cause any problems with Joe. I just wanted him to leave me alone. But even I had to admit that he wasn't making any progress on doing so over the last several months. I blew out a breath and looked at Robin who had walked up next to me and nodded my head.

I followed her over to her desk, sat down and filled out the report. The Avengers all gave their statements, even though the whole thing was on cameras since it happened in the station and there were a bunch of cops who witnessed it as well. I started to stand up to leave, but Steve gently placed a hand on my shoulder, careful not to press down where Joe's hands had been, keeping me sitting and quietly said, "roll up your sleeves."

I did and heard the collective intake of breath that happened all around me. I looked from side to side, "Yep, bruising already. That jackass. Does he think that's helping his case any?" I thought to myself. Thankful that for once it seemed, I was keeping my thoughts inside my head. Robin took pictures, added them to her report, and we were finally done.

I could feel the tension in my body as well as rippling off of everyone else as we walked through the station and headed toward the SUVs.

"Just give us five minutes" Clint said in an overly high-pitched, mocking voice.

I turned and looked at him and then just burst out laughing. Slowly the tension eased all around us, and a couple chuckles joined mine. "Hey, it could have happened that way! How was I supposed to know the ex from hell was on shift today?"

We got back to the cars and went back to our original groups from this morning. I instructed Lester to swing by Pinos for take out then drive toward Buster's neighborhood for surveillance. He agreed as long as I called Ranger right then. I first placed the call in to Pinos for the order, then I dialed Ranger's number. My phone was hooked up to the SUV's bluetooth, so after one ring the vehicle was filled with Ranger's voice barking out, "report!"

I sighed and informed him he was on speakerphone before saying, "it isn't a big deal. We got one of the new skips without any real problem, took him into the station, and ran into Morelli. Ended up pressing charges against him, and now we're on our way to pick up some lunch and run surveillance on Buster and ask around about him."

"Are you alright?"

"Couple of bruises where he grabbed me, but I'm fine. He's probably on suspension now, so hopefully he'll learn his lesson."

"Okay, my office for another report when you get back," he said then disconnected.

"Well, that went better than I expected."

Lester pulled to the curb outside Pinos and dashed inside to grab our order. He stopped at the back SUV and gave them their subs and was giving them some instructions for surveillance. I'd imagine Clint didn't need them, but also understood why Lester felt the need to make sure we were all on the same page.

"So," Natasha piped up from the backseat breaking the albeit comfortable silence, "almost get your head taken off by a baseball bat, taze a guy, and get assaulted by an ex in a police station. Is this a typical day for you?"

"Well, the assault by an ex part was new, so congratulations on getting to be there for that first, but otherwise… it isn't atypical, that's for sure."

"Interesting, sounds like you and Steph may have some shared life experiences, Cap."

Steve gave a good hearted chuckle and said, "well, similar at least. I doubt Stephanie has ever fought aliens or crazy Nazi splinter groups."

"Not that I know of, nope. But who knows, maybe someday!"

They both groaned at my reply. Then Steve asked the question I'd been hoping all day he wouldn't ask, "by the way, what's a distraction?"

This time I groaned. I turned around and looked him in the eye. "You're not going to like this and it is possible that we won't have to go that route, so why don't we just ignore it for now?" When he just held my gaze steadily I sighed, "some of these guys are really bad and they are very disinterested in going back to jail. They know they've skipped court and that we're going to be after them, so they bring guards with them everywhere and turn their homes into fortresses. One of our options is a full-scale take down where we storm wherever they're staying or, if we can't find where they're staying, we storm wherever they are. That winds up being high risk for the team as well as for innocent bystanders"

Steve nodded and I looked over at Natasha. I could tell she knew where this was going. "Our other option, and the route we go more often if we can these days, is a distraction. We find out what bar or club they're going to be at, switch some of the staff with our men, and send a few more men in as customers. Then we have a full team outside waiting. I go in, dressed up however we find out his tastes run, and lure him out into the parking lot. As soon as we step outside, the guys grab him. It is the much safer option. We've done dozens of these."

Steve held my gaze for several seconds then nodded his head in acceptance, "makes sense to me."

I looked at him in surprise and Natasha piped up, "Steve's all about reducing potential for civilian casualties and he's a military strategist. There's a reason that type of mission has been around for longer than Steve. Plus, all those guys care about you, so if they keep sending you in, they must be reasonably sure they can keep you safe and you must be good at it."

_**Steve's POV**_

Everything Natasha said was true, I accepted that distractions, as the Rangeman team called them, were good strategy, and if Stephanie had done that many, they were probably pretty good at keeping her safe. Was I wild about the idea using Stephanie specifically? No. Would I insist on being there if they ran one tonight? Yes.

But I wasn't going to tell Stephanie what to do or throw a fit, which seemed to surprise her. If that's what she's used to from the men in her life, she's going to be surprised. She'd proven today that she was pretty good at taking care of herself. And with our time here, I knew Natasha and I would work with her on that some more. And if our relationship expanded the way I'll admit I was hoping it would, I wasn't planning to start trying to control her then either. My role for as long as she'd let me would be to stand right next to her.

We spent a couple hours going around Buster's neighborhood, looking for him, and talking to Lester and Stephanie's informants. We weren't able to find out anything more than where Buster would likely be tonight. At a club in downtown Trenton. We headed back to the office and Stephanie went directly into a meeting with Ranger.

Natasha, Clint, Thor, and I found Tony and Bruce and caught them up on the day's crazy events. Tony let us know that the house wasn't quite ready yet, so we'd be staying at the hotel for another couple nights, which was fine. Stephanie walked in holding garment bags, a box of shoes, and another duffle as Tony was saying that and asked if we wouldn't mind heading back there for a few hours before coming back in. I tried to take the things for her, but she wouldn't let me.

We drove back to the hotel and all gathered in the larger sitting room of our suite and Stephanie quickly went and stashed her stuff in her room. She came back out and got waters for everyone before sitting down and explaining what was going to happen tonight. She finished by saying that she had more than enough backup from Rangeman, but we were all welcome to join if we wanted. Everyone but Bruce decided to go, figuring that if things got too tense, he didn't want to risk the Other Guy being let loose on a packed club full of people.

There was a quick knock on the suite door then a second later, in strode Pepper Potts with her arms full of takeout bags. Tony quickly got up, took the bags, and gave her a kiss. Then she went around giving the rest of us hugs and asking how we were. When she finished she strode over to Stephanie and introduced herself, pulling Stephanie into a hug when she stuck out her hand for a handshake.

We all ate amicably chatting and telling stories while relaxing a bit and catching Pepper up. Pepper asked about the skip Steph had brought in today and she explained that if he had more collateral available to him, and he'd been quick about it, he could have been bonded out again already today. And, if her Cousin Vinnie was the one who bonded him out again, he could very well wind up on Rangeman's radar again in a few weeks if he missed his next court date. When we were done, Pepper told us to clear the plates and then snagged Natasha and Stephanie, dragging them into the bedroom claiming it was time to get ready the night.

I glanced at my watch and saw that we weren't due back at Rangeman for three hours so that seemed early to me. Tony noticed and chuckled saying, "don't ask."

Two and a half hours later, Stephanie's bedroom door opened and out walked Natasha and Pepper. They were dressed to kill and I had a feeling, based on Stephanie's apprehension when I'd looked at the garment bags earlier, that she was going to be even more over the top. And that she was concerned about my reaction. My thoughts were confirmed when Natasha looked me dead in the eye and smirked then said, "we were able to cover her bruises… not that anyone is going to be looking at her shoulders."

Stephanie walked out and I think my heart skipped a beat. She was wearing what would, I suppose, technically be called a dress. It had thin straps and a neckline that plunged all the way down to her belly button. The bottom of the dress was tight and didn't really cover anything more than was required by law. The side panels appeared to be mesh, and when she turned around to grab her purse then shut her bedroom door I saw that it was backless all the way down to the bottom of the small of her back. My glance slid down her legs and I noticed that she was wearing heels that had to be at least five inches tall. How could she walk in those? I looked back up at her beautiful face and could see that she actually looked apprehensive.

Everyone murmured her that she looked nice and they'd meet us down in the car before rushing out the door. Bruce did the same saying he'd see us tomorrow and went back to his suite. When the door finally shut behind him, I stepped closer to where she was staring at the floor. I put my finger under her chin and tilted her face up until she looked me in the eye.

"Hey, pretty lady, what's wrong? I don't think a dame who puts on a dress like this is likely to be shy, so what's going on?" I asked her.

"I guess I'm worried about what you think of 'a dame who puts on a dress like this'. I know you're kind of old fashioned and, well, this dress is definitely not."

Without hesitating I replied, "I think she's brave, and strong, and courageous. I'm blown away by the fact that she's willing to go out, dressed like this, and draw the attention of a violent man to get him off the streets and make sure that no innocent people get hurt." I watched the light come back in her eyes as I spoke. My voice dropped a little lower as I added, "And I think she's gorgeous and I wish she was going out dancing with me instead of working."

"Really?"

"Yes, really. You could dress like this every day just for fun and I wouldn't think any less of you. It seems unreal to me that we only met about 24 hours ago. I feel like I've gotten to know you a lot already, and I can't wait to get to know you more."

I dropped a gentle, barely there kiss on her lips and looked in her eyes willing her to understand that I was hoping there would be many more to come. Then I pressed another on the top of her head and stepped back, holding my hand out to her. "Now come on, you have a job to do and the others will only give us a harder time the longer we leave them waiting."

She hesitated for a minute, and when I looked at her in question she said, "they're going to put a wire on me so they can hear what's going on, and they'll probably give you an ear piece. I'm going to have to say some things to this guy that might make you uncomfortable."

"Thanks for the warning; it'll be fine." I said, before wiggling the fingers of my outstretched hand at her.

I was relieved when she smiled up at me and grabbed my hand and we walked out to the elevator. "You know what I don't understand about your outfit? One, those shoes have got to be uncomfortable. And two, aren't you going to be cold?"

She gave a chuckle, "yes, well, I think you'll find that very little about modern women's fashion is practical. You get used to the shoes though, I wear heels most of the time when I'm not working. Or at least I did before they all exploded. Now, maybe not this high, but close."

"I think I'll take your word on getting used to the shoes," I smiled. I looked down at our hands as we approached street level and said, "if we walk out like this, they're definitely going to talk."

She squeezed my hand with hers and responded, "if you're okay with it, I say let them talk."

I squeezed her hand in response and didn't let go. As the elevator doors opened, I could see everyone looking concerned and talking animatedly among themselves in the lobby. Pepper looked up, saw us, and smiled wide causing everyone else to turn around and grin too.

Tony started in with, "what took you two long? Hope you weren't doing anything I wouldn't do." And Stephanie and I just kept walking right on past them and out to the SUVs. She handed me the car keys as I helped her into the passenger side of one of the SUVs. Natasha and Clint got in with us, leaving Tony to drive himself, Pepper, and Thor in the other.

"Good talk?" Natasha asked.

Stephanie just hummed in the affirmative but seemed lost in thought. After a few minutes she said, "sorry, I've been to this club before, I was just thinking about the layout and how we'll probably set this up. Remind me to take the pepper spray off the keychain and put it in my purse when we get there, okay? I have a weird feeling about tonight."

"A weird feeling?" asked Clint.

"Yeah, I have what I jokingly refer to with the guys as my 'spidey sense'. It often gives me some kind of warning before something bad happens. It actually went off before I unlocked my car last night and triggered the bomb, but I figured it was just off because of the adrenaline from the apartment bomb."

"Is this spidey sense telling you anything in particular?" he asked.

"No, unfortunately not. It isn't even all that strong right now, it is just enough to put me on edge a little. I'm sure it'll be fine."

We all shifted a little uncomfortably at that, not wanting to tell her not to do the job, but all with a healthy respect for instincts. Instincts often told you something that you knew but just couldn't bring to the forefront of your mind.

"Look, I'll mention it to Ranger and ask him to put a few more people than usual on the team tonight."

We pulled up to Rangeman, and Stephanie was still deep in thought. I had to tap her on the shoulder from outside the her door to get her attention so she'd get out. As we walked through the garage, I handed her the pepper spray and she slid it into her purse.

Clint chuckled and said, "again with the pepper spray, you two."

We piled into the elevator and she gave a little finger wave to the camera again as we rode up. When we got to the second floor, she told us to go ahead and head into the conference room and she'd be back down as soon as she grabbed some files from the office.

Natasha, Clint, and I just exchanged glances, let the others off, and stayed with her. Steph just rolled her eyes and said to me, "this is a secure building, nothing is going to happen to me in it".

"Humor us".

The elevator doors opened and Stephanie was greeted with whistles and lots of "Looking good, Bomber!"

I watched her make her way around the floor saying hi to all the men. I turned my head slightly as Ranger walked up to me before giving my attention back to Stephanie and the room.

"Heard you were ready to take on a cop in the middle of a cop shop today."

I nodded, "If it came down to it. And we were only seconds away from me deciding we were at that point. He was hurting her."

"Gonna have to be careful about things like that. She'd rather take the couple of bruises I hear she got waiting for a cop to step in than to have you wind up in prison for assaulting an officer."

I shrugged noncommittally.

"For the record, he's been suspended. He's not a cop right now." I glanced at him out of the corner of my eye, standing at parade rest. "I pushed and he has to go to alcohol counseling and anger management classes out of state before he comes back to work. Heard he might get sent on a long out-of-state task force on his way back."

We stood there in silence for a couple minutes, watching Stephanie finish up her rounds.

"You know, it's interesting," Ranger said, "this is a tradition of sorts. I think she might even have an order. All the men make sure to be on the floor when she arrives and she makes her rounds greeting them all in her own way. She's still being friendly with all of them tonight, but she's different. A little less casual flirting than she usually does, even though they all know it never means anything. Almost like she's giving off hands-off vibes and changing up her routine for a reason. Wonder what would cause that."

I didn't say anything, simply watched her wind her way back around toward us.

Ranger chuckled, "Captain Rogers, you, I like. You'd be good for her. If you were interested, that is. For the record, I usually get a great big hug and a nice long kiss on the cheek."

We watched as Stephanie came up to Ranger's side. She gave him a one-armed hug and shoved him in the shoulder playfully with a "hey, Ranger." At this, I heard Clint and Natasha who had been standing next to me and heard everything Ranger said bark out laughs. I smiled wide and Stephanie looked at the us in surprise. "What?" She asked.

"Nothing," hurried Natasha. "Barton just pinched me and it tickled."

Stephanie gave them a strange look then walked over to her desk, this time we followed her.

Ranger noticed us continuing to stick close to her and asked, "Babe, what's going on?"

She let out a sigh, and said, "it's nothing, my spidey sense has been buzzing for the past hour or so. I made the mistake of mentioning it to these guys and they refused to wait on the second floor."

Ranger nodded then called out, "those on the distraction tonight, conference room, now!" About half the room emptied out and he looked at those remaining. "I know you're all of shift in an hour, so I'm going to call in some people who are off unless any of you would rather stay late for this."

"I wish you wouldn't make them do that," came Steph's distracted response.

"Steph, they know it is 100% voluntary. They actually fight for the chance to be on a distraction shift when we have one scheduled out far enough in advance. They wouldn't have agreed if they hadn't wanted to, or if they were too tired to do it right. Found what you're looking for yet?"

"Nope. Not quite sure what it is. I think maybe the club?" she looked up. "Where'd everyone go?"

"Down to the conference room, Hector's bringing an extra laptop for you, grab your notes and let's go."

The next two hours were spent going over the plan, the suspect, and his known associates on repeat. Everyone got their say in areas of concern and the set-up. Rangeman set up everything the way they usually did and then we supplemented. After being reassured that Ram, who he'd seen in action before, was on sniper duty, Clinton agreed to give up his perch and be on the inside with Natasha. Tony and Pepper would also be going in as a unit.

Thor and Tank would be on the door acting as bouncers. I would be in the van with Ranger and Hector monitoring the wire and the video feeds that were available. Two men had already gone in as bartenders earlier that night. The case with Tony's suit would be on the roof with Ram as would Thor's hammer in case they needed to be summoned. I would have my shield with me in the van.

We all headed down to the garage and started getting into cars. There was another round of passing Stephanie around that went similarly to upstairs earlier. I noticed Ranger's lips twitching again, but he didn't say anything this time. Natasha, on the other hand, smirked at me. Before we got into the last SUV, Steph told everyone to hold on and held her hand out to Ranger. "Wire," was all she said. He handed it to her and she climbed into the backseat of the SUV alone. A few seconds later, the door opened and she said, okay, you can come in now. This time her voice was in our headsets as well. Guess she put the wire on. I could only imagine where she'd stashed it, so I guess that explained the privacy of the SUV.

On our way over we heard as each team got in place. Finally we pulled to the curb a couple blocks away and Stephanie got out. We watched as she walked to the club and Tank and Thor let her in. We sat in the back of the van in silence, listening through Stephanie's mic, watching the cameras at the entrance and on each of the bartenders. It seemed like Hector was also running some kind of extra computer on the side and Ranger explained that they were trying to get the computer to match up any faces from any of Stephanie's active or previous files. We were all still in the dark about what her Spidey Sense was trying to tell her.

I straightened up as I heard Stephanie say, "there he is. Incoming"

I couldn't see Stephanie yet on the monitor, but I could see Buster approach one of the bartenders, Hal. Hal purposely delayed a little with another order to give Stephanie a little more time to get into place. I watched on the monitor as she pressed herself against Buster under the guise of trying to get the bartender's attention giving a very convincing wobble on her heels at the contact.

She turned to Buster and said, "whoops, sorry about that! Man it is crowded in here tonight! My name is Carlee, with two e's, what's your name?" She stuck her hand out toward him.

"That's quite alright. Name's Buster. What's a pretty little thing like you doing up here by yourself?"

"Online date a few blocks down. I showed up and noticed he looked nothing like his profile, so I ditched him, hopped in a cab and asked him to take me to the closest place he knew of where I could get some drinks and have a good time. He brought me here and now I'm trying to get the drink so I can find someone to start having a good time with."

She looked him up and down as she finished that statement. He grinned at her, "tell you what, Sugar, why don't I buy you that drink and you can see if I'm someone you'd want to have a good time with? I can already tell I'd be happy to have a good time with you."

Stephanie giggled and nodded her head. They both turned back to the bar where Hal was standing waiting for their order. Buster waited for Stephanie to order and when she said, "Jack & coke" he nodded and told the bartender to make it two doubles.

"Shit," Ranger mumbled under his breath.

"What's the problem?" I asked.

Ranger just reached for the all-page microphone and said into everyone's earpieces, "skip ordered the same thing, made them a doubles. Hal's going to have to give her a real one just in case he switches on the hand-off. Keep 'em peeled, people."

"She's going to have to drink it. And she's a lightweight."

We watched Hal's camera as he mixed the drinks then handed them across the bar. Ranger was right, Butch grabbed both then handed Steph the one that had been in front of him. They moved over to a tall table, both taking sips of their drinks.

"That's an okay whiskey," Steph said, warning us that her drink was real in case we'd missed it, "not like that rotgut so many of the bars try to pass off these days."

"Well, drink up Sweetie, there's more where that comes from," exclaimed Buster before raising his glass to toast her with. We could just barely see them on the corner of one of the video screens. Stephanie was clearly drinking her drink as slowly as she felt she could without raising suspicions that she wasn't a "good time" girl.

About two thirds of the way through, she gave a jolt and spilled the rest of her drink on the floor. I could just make out a flash of red hair and hear Natasha giggle and say, "oops, sorry about that," before stumbling off to the dance floor dragging Clint, who was making a show of offering to replace Stephanie's drink, with her.

She waved off both Clint's and Buster's offers of a fresh drink and instead pulled Buster onto the dance floor.

When they got onto the dance floor, we couldn't see her anymore, just listen to the wire and continue to scan the people going in and out. They danced for quite a while. I think Stephanie was trying to wait out the whiskey so she'd be a bit more clear headed. Suddenly, she exclaimed, "Shit!" and we went on alert. When Buster asked her what was the matter, she said, "oh, I just thought I saw someone I knew."

She responded to presumably Buster's question of who, with "just someone else I had fun with recently. I think his name was Alec or something like that. Weirdly into baseball, kept talking about different kinds of baseball bats the next morning. Mind if we step outside for a few minutes and hopefully he'll move on elsewhere?"

Buster sounded like he agreed and I heard Ranger say, "good girl."

Then we heard, "Actually, the back door is probably a safer bet, he probably won't come this way. Nobody does."

Ranger calmly ordered the extra team around to the back of the bar. I could see him pull up information on one of the computers and confirm that Alec was, indeed out on bail again already. A minute later the mic went out and Ranger yelled at Hector in Spanish while slamming open the van door. I grabbed my shield and followed him. Suddenly our phones started emitting an alarm and I knew what it was without looking. I took off running. Seconds later I heard Jarvis in my earpiece explaining that nobody in the club had found her yet.

I got to the back door and found it was jammed and that team couldn't get in. I dashed over and ripped the door off its hinges. I paused as soon as I entered to let my eyes adjust and listen. I heard a muffled thump and a curse and swung around to what looked like the manager's office. The doorknob was locked, so I reached over and ripped that door of the hinges too. Standing inside was Stephanie with one arm covering her eyes and mouth and the other holding her can of pepper spray by her side. One guy was on the ground unconscious and a second was in the corner, writhing around gagging.

I gently grabbed her and pulled her to me and out of the room as the secondary team rushed in and secured the men. I set her down and carefully guided her outside. I looked her over, "are you okay?"

At this point we had a crowd around us including Tony in his armor, holding Pepper close and Thor with his hammer.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Alec saw me as we were trying to leave and followed us. We'd almost made it out the back when he grabbed me and dragged me into the office. Buster followed and started trying to pull him away from me until he heard Alec call me a 'that bounty hunter bitch'. At that point he decked Alec, knocking him out. Then Buster locked the door and started yelling at me asking me who else was here. I grabbed my pepper spray, hoping the team was going to arrive soon and I was going to find a different way out because that room was so small. But when no one was in the room and he came at me, I just covered my face and sprayed. That's when you came in."

Bobby walked up to her and Stephanie just shook her head, "honestly, I'm fine. Alec didn't even grab me as hard as Joe did earlier, I don't think it will bruise. And Buster never got around to laying a hand on me."

Bobby handed her a bottle of water and some wipes so that she could make sure she didn't have any pepper spray left on her. Then he backed off and Stephanie turned to Ranger, "why'd it take so long for backup to get there and how was Steve the first one there when you and he were probably the furthest away except for Ram?"

"Well, Babe, turns out Super Soldiers are crazy fast and strong," he replied with a straight face.

Junior piped in with, "we got to the back door and it was jammed. We were telling Tank and Thor to get to it and try to open it from the other end so we could help in the search when the Captain there ran up out of nowhere and just ripped the door off the hinge. He did the same thing to the office door to get to you."

Stephanie looked over at the back door lying on the ground and nodded, "nice."

Tony piped in with, "It's not his first. Difference is that this time the club owner will probably want to keep it as a prize. Last time Fury was pissed because it was the Helicarrier and, well, it exposed some secrets and caused us all to fight."

Stephanie nodded, "sounds like a good story for another time. If it's not classified. Alright, let's get back to Rangeman so I can fill out my report and we can all leave."

Ranger shook his head and said, "morning's soon enough." Lester handed me an extra set of keys and Steph reached over, grabbed my hand and pulled me to where the SUVs were. Feeling her holding my hand, made me forget about the whole debacle and smile as I followed.


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: **The characters and things you recognize in this story don't belong to me. They belong to Marvel and Janet Evanovich. I'm pretty sure you'll recognize which is which. Mistakes belong to me.

* * *

Chapter 5

_**Joe's POV**_

That bitch had really gone and done it this time. After that scene _she_ caused at the police station yesterday, I'd had to sit in my captain's office and listen as he yelled at me. I knew I deserved it for not being able to keep Stephanie in line, but it still irked me to no end.

I didn't know what she was playing at. It was bad enough when she'd "broken up" with me, again, but I knew it was only a matter of time before she'd come crawling back like she always did. This time, she was pushing the boundaries even more, not just insisting on working for Manoso, but now hanging around with these Avengers. What was going through her head? I'm sure they were just doing this for the fun of watching her screw up and getting to laugh at her at the end of every night.

I sighed as I heard a car pull up outside, surprised when I noticed it was my captain. I looked around and kind of shoved the beer cans out of the way. My mother and grandmother would clean those up while I was gone. Goodness knows it was Stephanie's place to do that, but we all knew she wouldn't take care of it. Yet. I had thought at first that he was joking when he said I was going to have to go out of state to an alcohol treatment program and anger management classes. Rehab. I'd just laughed in his face. Of course, when it turned out that he was serious, I'd stopped laughing.

This was all Cupcake's fault. I didn't have alcohol or anger problems, she had being an idiot problems. She was lucky I was still willing to marry her. At least Morelli genes are so strong that I wouldn't have to worry about our kids taking after her. I opened the door and walked out to my captain's car. Guess he was going to personally see me off for my treatment.

I'd sit through the stupid program and classes. They wouldn't be able to make me change because there was nothing wrong with me, but maybe I'd learn something that I could use to help Stephanie improve herself. And by the time I get back, these "Avengers" would have moved on and Rangeman will have kicked Stephanie to the curb just like Ranger did. She'll be waiting for me and after she's sufficiently proven that she learned from her mistakes, we'll be able to get married and move on with our lives.

_**Steph's POV**_

I woke up the next morning to the smell of coffee, I smiled and opened my eyes. In front of me was a piece of paper with a single red rose on it. I read the note from Steve and smiled. He'd let me know that he hadn't been able to sleep, so he'd gone for a run and then to the gym. He'd meet us at the office when we got in. On my bedside table was another note, this time with a traveler's mug of coffee and a muffin. Apparently he'd heard Tony raving about how good this mug was at keeping coffee hot, so he'd gotten one somewhere in the very early hours of the morning with the hopes that my coffee would still be hot when I woke up.

I greedily grabbed it up and tested. Yep, still hot. I went about my morning routine, happily sipping coffee throughout, then walked out of my bedroom into the sitting area. Everyone looked up, surprised to see me smiling.

Tony blurted out, "wait a minute, why are you so happy this morning, I know for a fact that Cap isn't here and wouldn't have put that smile on your face last night."

"Nope," I agreed, "but he did leave me coffee before he left and it is still hot, so I've already had some. He also left me this." I said, bringing the rose up to my face to smell before wandering into the kitchen area and finding a glass to put the rose in. I refilled my coffee and walked back past the baffled group to put the rose on my bedside table.

I walked back out with my muffin and said, "okay, who is going in today, and are you ready?"

Natasha, Clint, and Thor raised their hands. Pepper said, "we're going to be checking in on the house to make sure it is all set. We'll catch up with you all later today. Stay safe!"

I nodded my agreement and led the group down to the SUV. We got to Rangeman and headed directly to the gym. As soon as walked in, my step and my smile faltered. A bunch of the guys were standing around openly staring. Steve was clearly in his own world, and I think it was one made of nightmares.

I noticed some sand on the ground and a line of three broken punching bags against a wall. There were more new bags off to the side waiting for their turn. As we watched, Steve's controlled punching became harsher and more frantic. Then bam, he broke the bag and it went flying toward the opposite wall. Without noticing any of the rest of us, he went over, moved it with the other broken bags then dragged up a fresh one and started punching it again.

Ranger stepped up next to me and I asked, "how long?"

"Couple of hours," came his reply. "Bobby offered a sedative, but we didn't think we could get it in him or that it would work anyway."

"Can you clear the gym until further notice? And turn off the cameras? Natasha, Clint, and Thor will stay outside in case there's a problem, but I'm sure I'll be fine."

Ranger looked me in the eyes then nodded his head.

Natasha stepped up to me, eyes on Cap, "you sure about this? He'll come out of it on his own eventually anyway."

"I'm sure."

I waited until everyone had cleared out then I stared at him for a minute. Mostly out of concern, but a teeny bit because he'd taken his shirt off and he was definitely built. I stopped myself before I went down that train of thought too far and I tried to decide how I wanted to approach this.

Deciding that first and foremost was to avoid startling him as much as possible, I walked around him, careful to stay well away from him, until I was back where I'd be in his field of vision but was still outside of the range where I thought the punching bag or its chain would hit me if he broke another one. I pulled a chair over and sat, staring at him. I said his name softly a few times then a little more firmly.

Then I just started talking to him, telling him fun stories. I told him about the time that I'd been convinced I could fly as a kid and jumped off my parents' garage roof. I told him about the many adventures Mary Lou and I had growing up and how I'd snuck out of my parents' house at night as a teen. I told him about some of the funnier mishaps Lula and I had over the past few years. Like trying to barbecue and catching a tree on fire. And then later trying to barbecue and catching an awning on fire.

Finally I started talking about when I first met him a day and a half ago. How I'd known instantly I could trust him and how I'd felt a tingle when our arms brushed. I told him about how shocked I was that he and his teammates had accepted me into their lives so quickly and how they seemed to treat me as a friend. I told him what it did to my heart every time he looked at me and smiled. I talked about how much it meant to me that he had hardly seen me do much of my job, and things hadn't gone perfectly, but he'd still supported and encouraged me.

I noticed that his punches seemed to be slowing down and to be lessening in intensity. So I continued on that thread and told him that even when I was locked in that room with a pissed off skip last night, I knew I could take care of myself but just in case, he'd be there before anything bad happened to me. Seeing him tense a little more at that again, I switched back and started creeping closer as I told him how great that one, tiny kiss had felt and how excited I was to know how much more there was to come. I told him about how I couldn't wait to get to know him more and I could just tell that he was going to be a big part of my life from now on.

Finally I told him how happy it made me to hold his hand and know that he was okay with letting everyone see it. And how happy I felt the instant our hands touched each other and I felt his warmth radiating into me. Lastly I told him how happy I'd been when I woke up because I could just tell he'd been nearby. And about how beautiful the rose was and how the coffee was still warm and it had made me instantly cheerful with the first sip instead of taking a whole cup just because I knew he'd gotten it for me and went to such great lengths to do so.

His hands had finally stilled on the punching bag, so I reached out and touched them. Even with the tape, I still felt that warmth spread through me. He looked at me as he started pulling off the tape and I could see the cold nightmares slowly leave his gaze. When he got all the tape off, he reached out and stroked my cheek. Then his hands ran down my arms to my mine, and joined them together with his.

He used our joined hands to pull me closer and dropped his head down as I stretched up to him and he gave me a real kiss. I was expecting an inferno of excess testosterone and for him to be a little rough even. I was surprised, and felt that tiny grip that I still had on my heart loosen, when instead he was exceedingly gentle. His hands let go of mine so he could wrap his arms carefully around me. My hands slid up his bare chest into his hair and then down behind his neck to clasp together. He tenderly lifted me up so he could stand full height as though I didn't weigh anything, and I secured myself a little more by wrapping my legs around his waist.

The kiss just seemed to go on. It tender and romantic somehow making me feel desired and loved without being overtly sexual. Though that was quite obviously brewing under the surface. He could have easily turned the kiss into that kind of passion and I would have been right there with him, but by refraining, he succeeded in making me feel treasured. I felt a couple of happy tears fall down my cheeks as I realized that this embrace really did feel like coming home. He broke off the kiss and just rested his head on my shoulder and neck, breathing in my scent.

"Thank you," he whispered hoarsely, and I just combed my fingers through his hair, soothing him as he continued to hold me. Eventually he took a few steps until we were at a wall, rearranged his grip on me, and sat on the floor, me in his lap, with his back against the wall.

I felt his heart rate slow down and his breathing come back to normal. We sat there for probably an hour, just soaking in each other's presence. He leaned his head back against the wall and said, "It's too early to say it, so I'm not going to. I'm just going to say that I think some day soon, I'm going to love you. I don't know what I did to deserve you, but I'm so glad you came into my life."

Guy's a superhero, he's saved thousands of people. Well, actually, he saved the world, so I guess he saved all the people. Or maybe just a sixth of them if he had to share credit with the rest of The Avengers. And he _doesn't know what he did to deserve me_. Yeah right, I'm the one who doesn't deserve him.

Steve chuckled and pulled me closer into him. Hmm, I guess I didn't keep that inside. So I just looked up at him and said, "I _know_ that one of these days, I'm going to love you." He leaned down and gave me another tender kiss. Finally he looked around at the gym and said, "Well, looks like I scared everyone off and made a big mess. I'll start cleaning this up, and you go tell everyone it is safe to come back." He stood up with me in his arms then gently set me down on the feet. He gave me one more kiss before pushing me softly away to do as he'd asked.

I turned around halfway to the door and stopped and checked him out one more time. Appreciating the view all the more now that I wasn't so worried about him. He noticed me checking him out and grinned before walking over to his discarded shirt and pulling it on. "Spoilsport!" I shouted.

When I opened the door to the hallway, I was surprised to see not just Thor, Clint, and Natasha there, but Bruce, Tony, and Pepper as well. They'd found some chairs and pulled them into the hall, clearly settled in for the long-haul. As soon as I opened the door, they jumped up, rushing forward and asking me if I was okay and what happened. I threw my hands up, palms facing out and said, "Relax! Everything is fine! Go in and see for yourselves if you'd like. I'm just going to run up and let the guys know they can use the gym again."

I ran up the stairs, peeked my head out the door and called out, "all clear guys, thanks!" Then I turned around and sped back down the stairs. When I got back, Tony, Pepper, and Bruce were standing in the hallway. Bruce walked up to me with a big smile on his face and said, "thanks for taking care of him." Pepper gave me a quick hug.

I was the most surprised when Tony looked me in the eye, all seriousness, and said, "Thank you." Then he put his customary smirk back on and said, "Thanks to Pep, the house is done. We're headed up to ask your boss if you can have the afternoon off. We've already moved everything over from the hotel. We picked up a couple of extra things as well. Figured, since we're at the beach, you might want to introduce the Capsicle to bikinis. Bet he has a heart attack!"

Hmmm, if he was going to be in swim trunks while shirtless and possibly wet from the ocean, it'd probably be a toss-up which of us had a heart attack first.

I just covered my face and blushed profusely when I heard Tony laugh and realized I'd said that out loud. Without looking at them I walked toward the gym doors, waving good bye behind my head.

I stopped by my locker and traded my boots in for running shoes and my cargoes in for yoga pants before stripping my outer uniform shirt off again, leaving myself in the sports bra under a cami. This was my more standard workout gear than yesterday when I hadn't taken the time to stop before beating Lester into the mats. Normally I didn't wear the cami and just went with the sports bra, but I didn't think Steve was ready for that, so I would leave it on today.

I walked into the gym and noticed that Steve was done cleaning up and was lifting some free weights off to the side. His gaze tracked me as I walked over to the stereo, flipped on some Metallica, and then went over to the treadmill and started to run. I wasn't planning to go very far today because I hate running, but I wanted a little time to think, so this was the easiest way to accomplish it.

As my feet pounded on the treadmill, I let my thoughts wander over the morning. Honestly, I knew things were moving fast with Steve, especially considering my previous commitment phobia, but there was just _something_ pulling me to him. I had said way more to him this morning trying to get him to snap out of his nightmares than I had intended, especially so early in our relationship. And after this morning's kiss and "some day soon I'm going to love you", I couldn't call it anything other than a relationship.

What was so different this time? Why didn't that scare me in the least? I guess it kept going back to that surprising, inexplicable connection. And really, I knew I could trust him with everything, including my heart. There was still a chance, as there always was, that this wasn't going to work out, but I felt confident it would. So I was going to go all in and see what happened. We'd both laid our cards on the table and now it was time to see if we could find a way to make sure that we both won.

I was startled and almost tripped when I heard Clint's voice talk from next to me. "If you're thinking about running, I think I speak for all of us when I say that I'm glad you're just running in place rather than away."

I looked up into the mirror and realized he'd been watching me, probably this whole time. I looked around the mirror and saw that Natasha, Thor, Steve, and the Merry Men who'd been brave enough to come back into the gym so far were as well. Rats, my poker face was crap. I'm pretty sure that's how all the Rangemen ESPed me all the time. Oh well, nothing I can do about it now.

I locked eyes with Steve in the mirror as I responded to Clint, "I'm not running. Well, I mean, obviously I literally am right now, but I was just thinking some things through. I'm not running."

I moved my gaze back over to Clint and he nodded. "You know, the first time I saw Tasha I had orders to kill her. She was working for the KGB. But as soon as I saw her I knew I was going to make a different call. We were two spies on opposite sides, and everyone thought I was crazy. But I just knew."

I was surprised and touched that he would tell me something so incredibly personal. And I was honored. I knew exactly what that was- a vote of support. I swallowed past the emotion and whispered, "thanks."

_**Ranger's POV**_

After getting back upstairs to my office, I watched the screens on the wall of my office as Stephanie cautiously moved around Steve and into his peripheral line of sight. Smart. Then I followed her wishes and cut the camera feed for the gym. I pulled up the hallway outside the gym as I started settling in on the paperwork on my desk. I felt sure this would take a while. As I worked I saw the other Avengers arrive, along with Ms. Potts, and set up a vigil of sorts outside the gym doors. They were talking amongst themselves occasionally and otherwise sitting in contemplative silence.

Having watched their interactions with Stephanie thus far, I was pretty sure that they were there, sitting in that hallway, instead of doing whatever else they probably could and should be doing, just as much for her as for Steve. Stephanie just had that way about her that drew people to her. I think a large part of it was the way that she just instantly accepted everyone around her without judgement. It was what made her so special to my men and me, even some of the skips she'd brought in and helped over the years.

I loved her, and I always would. But I'd been completely honest when I told her that I couldn't give her more than sex. And for as long as she'd offered it, I would have continued to take it. Even though I knew it hurt her a little bit every time I slept with her and pushed her away But she loved me anyway, knowing I knew that. Because when she loved people, she was fiercely loyal to them and she loved everything about them- even the darkest places of their hearts. And I was sure she was showing that side of herself to the Captain right now.

I was shocked when, maybe a little over an hour after I'd shut off the gym cameras, the door from the gym into the hallway opened and out popped Steph. She quickly calmed down the concerned group in the hallway and gestured them inside. Then she ran up the stairs and I heard her voice through my open door call out an all clear to the guys. My eyes followed her back down the stairs where she exchanged words with a relieved looking Bruce, Pepper, and Tony before making her way into the gym.

She was in the locker room when Tank, Bobby and Lester walked in and shut my office door behind themselves. They sat down and turned to watch the monitors with me as Steph climbed on the treadmill and started running. She was oblivious as Clint joined her and he, as well as everyone else in the room, studied every thought that blatantly ran across her face.

My brothers in arms turned to me, and it was Lester who spoke up, "you okay, man."

I looked over at them and smiled a genuine smile. "Yes, I'm happy, actually. This is what she needs and what I've always wanted for her."

They looked as though they didn't quite believe me, and I could understand their point of view. There had always been powerful chemistry between Stephanie and I, and we were close. In fact, in some ways I was probably closer to her than I was to these men. She had a way of bringing out parts of me that without even realizing she was doing so. But, other than the sexual chemistry, it really was just a deep friendship. It was one I would always treasure, but I felt sure that our history was, even now, still standing in the way of everything our friendship could be.

And it was true that I had always been territorial over Steph as far as my men were concerned. But that was because I knew that they were like me. Stephanie had healed us all, enough to keep us alive. But even with her, none of us would be whole. And we couldn't give back to her nearly as much as we would take. I would always need her in my life, and I knew that was true of my men as well, especially the ones in this room. And Hector- he was her most drastic save to date.

As much as I would always need her, I knew that this was what was right for her. The first time I'd seen her with Steve, standing between him and me as though to protect him, I had a feeling about them. And as I watched them interact a few more times, the smiles they exchanged, and the comfort that they clearly drew from each other, I knew they belonged together. And I was being completely honest when I said that I was happy they found each other. They would keep each other whole, ground each other, and be stronger as a unit. Stephanie needed that. I didn't know him well yet, but I think Steve needed that. And truth be told, we all needed that for her.

I explained this all to the men in the room as we watched the interactions in the gym. She and Clint had clearly bonded a little more. She'd exchanged some words with Thor off to the side and been embraced in a huge- truthfully painful looking- brotherly hug. And now she and Natasha were on the mats sparring and chatting at the same time. And Steve watched all of this from the sidelines as he lifted some weights, looking absolutely at peace and content.

With a smile on my face, I turned off the screen and stood. "You know," I said, "we have a few men that we've talked about wanting to offer more responsibility and roles, but nowhere to put them. I was thinking I'd talk to a few of them who I think would be receptive to the idea, including two medics. Float the idea of them getting leadership roles, but moving around whenever we want them to. Between here and the Washington D.C. and Manhattan satellite offices that we're going to build into additional regional headquarters."

Bobby scratched his chin and said, "that way we can move to whichever of those cities we want, whenever we want."

I nodded in agreement, "keep our eyes on the most important member of our family. And offer her the flexibility to work wherever she wants as much or as little as she wants."

"We're always turning down business from those cities anyway because our offices aren't big enough. What about the rest of the guys though?" asked Lester.

"I'll work with the lawyers on some proposed contract wording and circulate it amongst you all for approval. I'm thinking based on seniority, we offer them the choice to stay where they are or join a rotational program that moves them between those three cities on a regular basis. That way they'll always get some overlap," added Tank.

We all nodded our agreement. "I'm going to go talk to Hector. He's going to be lead technology advisor to the core team. We'll come up with one for the other two management teams as well. He'll rotate with us, if he wants. His apartment, as well as ours, will be duplicated in the other cities and they'll shift ownership with whoever is onsite at any time."

We shared satisfied smiles. Sure, it was going to be a lot of work, but Stephanie was worth every bit of it. And I felt sure this would wind up being wildly profitable for Rangeman, even if a bit unconventional.

They all stood up, walking toward the door to go about their new tasks when there was a knock on the door. They stopped and I called for whoever was outside to enter. I was pleasantly surprised to see Tony Stark, and I noticed Pepper and Bruce in the outer office chatting with some of the men on duty.

I gestured him in and everyone sat back down as Tony grabbed a seat.

"The house is ready for us to move in, and I've worked with your man, Hector, to integrate a top of the line Rangeman system with Jarvis. He wouldn't tell me how much I owed, so I wanted to ask you about that."

I just waved him off, "we don't charge for anything involving Stephanie's protection. Keep in mind that can extend to anywhere else she might end up."

He looked at me curiously, "where else do you have offices?"

"We have some small dispatch type centers in some cities along the east coast, but our other major offices are in Miami and Boston. We just decided, however, to expand into New York and D.C. as quickly as possible. We'd be interested in any recommendations you could make for buildings similar to this in those places. We're looking to give ourselves the ability to move about between those cities for extended periods of time if, for some reason, we have a desire to do so."

At that, Tony shot me what was the first genuine smile I'd earned from him so far. "I'll let you know what I come up with. Pepper and I were just discussing bringing a branch of Stark Industries to Trenton, in fact. So if you have any leads with that, I'd be similarly appreciative. Oh, and I also hear Malibu is a nice city. Just so you know. Though perhaps more of a vacation one. Let me know when you set up new offices and I'll make sure to send my referrals in the field to you from now on." I nodded my thanks and he added, "May even see about hiring you to consult on some upgrades for Avengers Tower once you make it to Manhattan. You know, depending on how things go."

"For the record, I hope they go very well. And I think they will," I responded.

"Interesting. Alright, well I should get going. I did want to ask if I could convince you give Stephanie the afternoon off. That way we can all settle in to the house."

I nodded my agreement.

"Alright, well, you know where it is. You are all welcome any time."

_**Steve's POV**_

I watched as Natasha worked with Stephanie. We'd been telling the truth earlier when we said that Stephanie had a pretty good base, but there was a lot that Natasha could teach her. For instance, the men here had shown her a lot of standard defence moves and how to do things like use attackers' weight against them, recognizing that Stephanie was almost always going to be physically smaller than her attackers. Nat, on the other hand, being probably the best female hand-to-hand combatant in the world and similar in size, could more easily show her how to combine her own body weight with theirs to become an even more effective weapon.

After a while, more of the men showed up, and I noticed Natasha's eyes light up followed by one of her trademark smirks when Lester walked in. Lester was an idiot if he hadn't apologized to Natasha over the picture fiasco as well. And by the look in her eyes, I was guessing he hadn't.

Natasha began demonstrating one of her trademark moves on Lester, putting more into it and throwing him down time and time again just a little harder than necessary. Then she called Steph over and walked her through the same move. The look on Stephanie's face when she finally succeeded was one of shock, followed almost immediately by joy. I felt my own face light up in a smile and realized that I think I'd smiled and laughed more in the past day and a half than I had in the entire year before. Steph looked over at me and her smile grew, "did you see? I did it!"

I had just nodded when I heard Ranger, who had just walked in, ask "did what, Babe?" Steph looked over at Natasha who gave her a quick nod as Ranger started walking toward the ring. I could see mischief in her eyes as Steph hopped out of the ring and ran full tilt at Ranger. He clearly had no clue what was coming because he kept moving forward, only faltering slightly when she kept coming at him. Before he knew what happened Stephanie launched herself at him, locking her thighs around his neck and twisting her body, throwing a shocked Ranger down onto the floor. She landed on the balls of both feet over him and instantly jumped well out of his reach.

A stunned silence filled the gym as though everyone was trying to process what they had just seen happen. Ranger just laid on his back for a second then looked over at Natasha and said, "nice work." He looked at Steph and said, "proud of you, Babe" before all of the Rangemen started laughing. I mean full on laughing, several of them, including Tank, doubled over. I looked over at Thor and Clint and saw their lips twitching.

"Figures she'd teach Steph that move first," Clint said, "it's her favorite and certainly a show stopper. Probably also a good confidence booster."

I nodded in agreement, watching as Ranger slowly picked himself off the floor saying, "despite that, I'm still going to do what I came down here to do and tell you to take the day off. I hear you have a house to settle into with your new roommates. Next time though, Steph, can you please try out your new moves somewhere that isn't concrete."

Stephanie's smile slipped just a hair at that and she asked, "oh no, did I hurt you?"

Natasha, Clint, Thor, and I walked up to her as Ranger said, "I'll be fine. I'm just glad Black Widow over there hasn't taught you whatever it is she follows that move up with yet." We all nodded in agreement as he added, "or given you any of her bites to play with."

"What's a bite, Nat?" Stephanie asked Natasha. I knew what was coming but before I could stop her, Natasha turned quick as a flash, drawing a bite from I don't know where, and threw it at Lester who instantly went down.

There was silence again as Natasha started striding out of the gym. She called over her shoulder to no one in particular, "when he wakes up, tell him not to make me regret forming an alliance with him again!"

I grabbed Steph by the hand and pulled her out of the gym too, shoving her into the locker room down the hallway and saying, "ten minutes!"

We were all standing in the hallway, still waiting for her 15 minutes later when Lester walked up and muttered an apology to Natasha.

"Don't worry, I know you won't do it again. And thanks for your help at training today."

Lester smiled and nodded before walking back. I was wearing jeans, a white shirt and a brown leather jacket, so I was surprised when Ranger walked up to me and handed me another leather jacket, this one in black. Then I realized it was much too small for me and must be meant for Stephanie.

He handed me a set of keys and said, "I picked something up that I thought you might appreciate. Heard you had one in DC before things went south that last time, and I thought you might like a replacement. Pink slip is for you and it's in Steph's jacket. Call it a thanks for saving her gift if you must. It's a little for her too, she loves a good bike. Plus, they're hard to hide a bomb on."

Finally, he handed me a smaller version of the harness I had my shield attached to my back with. He looked me in the eye and said, "there's a place on the side of the bike that should work too if you'd rather." Then he was gone.

I looked over at the others in surprise. "What just happened?"

Tony was walking down the hall toward us, past a group of Rangemen who were watching the exchange with interest. "He told me earlier he's pulling for the two of you. Hopes you'll make it work. He thinks you're good for each other. If you ask me, that was him making a statement to all the men that he's accepted you and your relationship with Steph. Approves of it. Think of it almost like getting permission from a girl's dad to go steady, if you must."

Before I could respond, Stephanie came walking out. She was dressed in jeans and a light blue shirt. Her hair was down, she had sunglasses on, and her makeup was light. Clearly she was ready for a day of relaxation, rather than a day at the office. She smiled at me, then over at everyone else. she looked in my hands and said, "what's all that?"

"Your ex boyfriend gave him a present," Tony shouted with glee.

A clearly baffled Stephanie asked, "Joe was here? And they let him in?"

"Not Joe," I said, "Ranger."

"He wasn't ever _really_ my boyfriend, but okay. Hate to break it to you though, but that doesn't look like your size."

"This isn't the present. At least not for me. This is for you." I handed her the jacket and she looked it over with interest before shrugging it on. It looked like it was custom made in her size, and I started to wonder how worried I should be about the fact that Ranger could pick out clothing that fit Stephanie so perfectly when I heard her murmur, "Ella is a goddess." That made me feel better.

I dangled the keys in front of her face, "this is for me, apparently."

She grabbed them, looked at them and smiled. "Harley, nice. We've all seen the pictures, he knows your style, probably figures you're more comfortable driving this than one of the fancy half-spaceship cars he usually prefers."

"He'd be right about that."

She reached in her pocket and pulled out the papers. She looked them over. One set had a note on it that said "Steve" and she handed that to me as I noticed the other said, "Steph- your eyes only."

I unfolded my papers and saw that they were the title and paid registration for the bike.

Steph opened hers and laughed before tearing it up into little pieces and throwing it away.

"What was that?" Natasha asked, making me grateful because I didn't have to ask.

"I used to ask him where he got all the vehicles that I invariably blew up. In the beginning I was worried that they were acquired through... less than legal means. That was the receipt for the bike. It said, 'don't worry, it's not hot.' He wanted to make sure I didn't think he'd given Steve illegal property."

The thought hadn't even crossed my mind, but now that it had, I was glad to know that wasn't the case.

I reached over and closed up her jacket and said, "so, wanna go for a ride?"

Tony and Lester, who had come back and joined the group, snorted out laughs. My eyes widened and I blushed before stammering, "on the bike! I didn't mean…"

Stephanie just glared at them both then looked at me and said, "always."

"Okay, you're going to need to do me a favor though," I said.

"Anything," she responded without a split second of hesitation. It reassured me that I was making the right choice.

The others watched on curiously, as did the crowd that was slowly gathering the longer we stood in the hallway. I took a deep breath and slid her arms through the shoulder straps of the harness, adjusting them to the correct length. Then I looked her in the eye and simply said, "hold this for me?" as I reached behind my back, grabbed my shield, and secured it onto her back. I tested the quick release to make sure it was working, then strapped it back on.

Her eyes widened, but she nodded her head and didn't even stagger at it's weight. Then she leaned up and kissed me on the cheek. If there weren't dozens of people watching us, I would have given her a real kiss because she looked sexy as hell right now. Instead, I grabbed her hand and led her down the hallway and to the stairs.

The bike was sitting right in front of the staircase exit when we walked out, with two helmets sitting on the seats. I grinned and walked a circle around it, inspecting it closely. It was exactly what I would have picked out for myself. Seemed like the slightly newer model of my last bike. I looked at Steph and said, "HYDRA took my last one during the whole SHIELD takeover, Captain America is a fugitive thing. I wasn't able to locate it after I got out of the hospital." She nodded in understanding.

I picked up my helmet and strapped it on. Then I climbed on, picked up her helmet, and motioned her over. She stopped next to me and I reached up and carefully placed her helmet on, double checking that it was properly shut. Then she climbed on behind me and snuggled in close. I tested one more time that I could grab the shield from her back quickly if I needed it, then I turned around and secured it back onto her. When I turned the key and felt the bike rumble to life, Steph groaned behind me, and I reached down and squeezed her thigh firmly.

The two SUVs with the others in them pulled up. Tony was driving the lead car and rolled his window down. He kept his eyes ahead and said, "I hate to ruin this moment, but can we head out now?"

I pulled out my aviators, putting them on and revving the engine in affirmation. From behind me, Steph called out, "take the scenic route!" That brought a smile to Tony's face and he rolled up his window. He pulled forward and I slid between the two SUVs as we exited the garage.

There was only minor traffic getting out of Trenton, so the drive to the beach took just under an hour. Once we'd made it out of the city and onto the highway, I pulled into the next lane and sped up to get in front of Tony's SUV. I enjoyed the freedom of the bike and the feel of the wind on my face, but not nearly as much as I enjoyed the feeling of my girl pressed up behind me, her arms around my abdomen.

When I pulled up to the house and cut the engine, I could hear Stephanie's sigh of disappointment. I understood the feeling, so I just squeezed her thigh again before helping her off the bike and then climbing off myself. We pulled our helmets off, and I watched as her curls bounced free, sliding across my shield on her back. We placed the helmets on the bike and I reached over and tugged at one the curls next to her face.

I gave her a smile which she returned. The others had already exited the SUVs and walked inside the house, so I leaned down and gave her a quick kiss on the lips before putting my hand on the small of her back and guiding her inside the house. I gently removed the shield and set it on the ground by the garage door for the time being. Then I helped her out of the harness and jacket holding onto them with mine as I was unsure where to put them.

We finally looked around and saw everyone staring at us still. "Well, that's adorable," commented Bruce. Natasha and Pepper quickly added their agreement. The others didn't say anything, but they looked pleased.

"Okay!" Tony clapped his hands, "First things first, Stephanie, I'd like to formally introduce you to Jarvis."

"Hi, Jarvis" came Stephanie's response. She jumped a little then giggled with pure delight when Jarvis responded, "good afternoon, Miss Plum. I hope your ride here was enjoyable. I would like to reassure you that Tony informed of me what happened to your apartment and upgraded all of my bomb-detection software."

Stephanie nodded her head gratefully, "thank you both for that," she whispered.

"Hey, hey, none of that!" said Tony, "this is a happy house filled only with happiness! Speaking of, meet Happy. Happy Hogan is our head of security. He was here meeting with Hector and Vince earlier. He's heading back to New York pretty much now, but he wanted to meet you before he left so he'd recognize you in the future if necessary."

The two shook hands, then Happy said goodbye to everyone and headed out. I guess Tony wasn't kidding. Then Tony started giving everyone a tour of the house. It was massive with an underground shooting gallery/experiment testing area and workspace for Tony and Bruce. The main floor had a large open living area, a gym, and way more bedrooms than there was a need for.

I couldn't help but notice that Tony gave Stephanie and I rooms that were right next to each other in their own wing. Clint and Natasha were in a large apartment over the garage. Tony and Pepper were in their own wing of the house as well, and Thor and Bruce each had rooms directly off the living area. I have to admit for as outgoing as Tony was, he seemed to recognize the need for space and privacy. One of the extra rooms in our wing had been converted into an office for Stephanie, another had been made into an art studio for me, with lots of sketching supplies.

As everyone moved on to tour the different areas of the house, Stephanie and I wandered out to the back yard. I grabbed my shield on the way, just in case. On a whim, I grabbed both of our harnesses as well. There were no neighbors anywhere nearby, but there were security fences up along the sides nonetheless. A big pool took up part of the backyard, and it had plenty of lounging chairs and umbrellas around it. Off to the side was a patio/party type area with an outdoor kitchen and, of course, a full bar. The majority of the back yard was relatively untouched, offering open space that was like a blank canvas. I could think of lots of good training uses for this space. The beach was definitely the crowning glory though. The fences ran all the way along the sides and into the water a short ways. They should provide a decent amount of cover from intruders and gossipmongers alike.

Stephanie walked right out to the sand and sat down, so I walked up and joined her. I stretched my legs out in front of me and reclined back on my hands. Steph scooted a little closer and leaned the side of her head against my chest. She took a deep breath and let it out. "I love the beach. It soothes me no matter what is going on in my life."

"You know, the ocean hasn't been my favorite ever since the crashing my plane into it and sleeping for almost 70 years thing."

She startled next to me, "I'm sorry, I didn't think."

When she started to get up, I just pulled her back into me and said, "you're changing that right now." We sat there in silence for a while longer and finally I stood up and pulled her up with me. "We can do this more later, but there's something important we need to do first." She followed me without protest as I led her to the open area of grass closer to the house.

"Okay," I explained, holding out her shoulder harness. "If you're going to be around me a lot, which I hope you are, and wearing this sometimes, like when we're out on the bike, you need to be able to at least get the shield into and out of your harness in case I can't for some reason."

She slipped the straps over her shoulders and nodded her head, both of us ignoring the others who had stepped out, presumably to find us, and decided to stay and watch. "Okay, watch a few times what I'm doing first, it is pretty straight forward." I made the motion once and she stopped me saying, "you're too tall, I can't see what you're doing."

I paused in thought and then just knelt down in the dirt to show her a few times. I stood back up and handed the shield to her. Her eyes went wide and I realized that although she'd worn it earlier, she hadn't actually handled it because I'd put it on her and taken it off. I nudged her with it playfully and said, "it won't bite."

"That is such a lie!" called out Natasha.

"Well, not literally. It's only as dangerous as the person holding it and how well they know how to use it," I clarified.

"So right this second, it is pretty fucking dangerous!" added Clint.

I turned my head and glared at them, "you are so not helping! You know she needs to learn this!"

They all nodded their heads in agreement, so this time Pepper yelled out, "you're perfectly safe from it as long as it is in Steve's hands."

"Better!" I called back. I could feel as they all started walking closer to watch more openly. I was practically expecting them to pass some popcorn around. Then I held it out to Stephanie again. Her hands were trembling a little as she reached out and took it. She grabbed it much too loosely by the top, and as soon as I let go it slipped out of her fingers and dropped to the ground.

Her eyes got really big as she covered her mouth. "I'm so so so sorry!" she gasped.

I couldn't help it, I just started laughing. Natasha took a few steps forward then reached up and smacked me upside the head. "Thanks, Nat. Steph, look at me, I'm not laughing at you. I'm laughing at the idea that such a little drop could possibly hurt it. I once jumped 20 plus stories out of a building, crashed through glass at about story 18 and landed with all of my weight on that. You aren't going to hurt it if you drop it on the dirt."

"Okay."

"You're also not going to hurt it if you grasp it more firmly, which you're going to need to do." I reached back down and picked it up again, then offered it out to her. She took a deep breath and held onto it more firmly this time. When I let go, she adjusted her grip a little, but it stayed in her hand. "Okay, now lift it up, over your head, rotate it, and slide it down into the holster."

She dropped it again the first several times she tried, but she finally got it. Then she had to try getting it back out of the holster. That took a lot of fiddling and frustration on her end before she got it the first time. She got a little bit faster every time she tried though. I walked over to the group who were all still standing there watching. When it seemed like she finally had it in a relatively fluid movement, and her arm was getting tired so she wasn't going to be getting any better today, I walked back over and said, "Good job. That's enough for today. We'll practice more tomorrow." Then I gently took it back from her and smoothly affixed it to my back.

"Show off," she muttered, she thought to herself.

I just tossed my head back and laughed and pulled her into a hug. "It'll be second nature to you in no time."

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**A/N:** So, how are you all feeling about things? You still enjoying the story. Yes, things are moving along rather quickly with Steve and Steph, but they are spending A LOT of time together, and I totally believe in having instant connections with people, so I'm standing by that. I'm thinking Steve and some of the Avengers will probably come up with some nicknames for Steph soon- let me know if you have any requests or suggestions!

Many heartfelt thanks to Margaret for pushing me to stretch myself a little with the additional POVs this chapter. I liked how they turned out in the end. Did you all enjoy them?


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: **The characters and things you recognize in this story don't belong to me. They belong to Marvel and Janet Evanovich. I'm pretty sure you'll recognize which is which. Mistakes belong to me.

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Chapter 6

_**Steph's POV**_

After the training session with Steve's shield, it was lunchtime. Tony had ordered delivery from a local burger place, and we all sat around the dining room table eating burgers, fries, and shakes. When we finished up, Tony declared it "Pool Party time" and instructed us all to go back into our rooms and put our bathing suits on. When I made a comment about not having a bathing suit, Tony said, "of course you do, with Pepper's guidance and an assist from your Ella, all the rooms come with a complete wardrobe."

I nodded my head in thanks and headed down to my bedroom, and actually stopped to look around when I entered it for the first time. It was gorgeous. It was painted light blue and it had a large California King bed that was in a light natural wood. The rest of the furniture was, of course, matching. The bedspread was in a brighter blue with white sheets peeking out. The throw pillows accenting it were in a bright red. "Real subtle," I thought in amusement while doing a mental eye-roll.

My eyes continued to wander around the room and stopped when I saw a small table off to the side with a cage on it. I ran up to it and tapped the glass then shrieked with surprised delight when Rex came out and twitched his nose at me! I reached in to grab him up and cuddle him to me for a few seconds. I hadn't managed to get in to see him yesterday with everything that had gone on, and I left this morning sooner than expected. I felt like a horrible hamster mommy for not knowing where he was, but at the same time, I was so glad to see him. Suddenly, my bedroom door burst open and six heavily armed Avengers stormed in, all in their bathing suits. I quickly put Rex back in the cage and shielded him with my body, raising my hands up.

"Holy cow! What are you guys doing?!"

"Jarvis heard you scream and alerted us. What's wrong?" asked Natasha quickly.

"I just was surprised and excited when I saw Rex, I wasn't expecting him to be here. I didn't even realize I screamed."

"Who is Rex?"

I stepped aside, and Tony groaned, "seriously? This is because of the rat?"

"He is not a rat," I exclaimed indignantly, "he's a hamster! And I hadn't seen him in almost two days."

Clint was staring at me in disbelief. "Did you just put your body between people with guns and a hamster?!" I nodded my head, and he just looked at me and said, "we are going to have a serious talk about this later."

"Okay, well, now that we've all had an impromptu undetected intruder alert, I'm going to go get Pepper out of her safe room. Oh, that reminds me, you have one in your closet too. Jarvis will walk you through all the setup steps later today and tell you how to use it. Let me know if you have any questions." Tony said. "Now, you, put on your bathing suit and get your butt outside in the next five minutes. You and Rex can get reacquainted more later. Right now it is party time."

They all stalked back out of my room except for Steve who walked over to me and squatted down so he was level with Rex. "Hey there buddy," he said sincerely, "I'm sorry if we scared you and your momma. We were just trying to make sure she's safe. I look forward to getting to know you better more later too."

My heart melted just a little bit more at that, so I gave him a quick kiss on the lips when he stood up then shooed him out of the room.

I walked over to the closet out of curiosity and flicked it open. Then I just stood there gaping. It was FILLED with gorgeous clothes. And shoes. So many shoes. I ran my finger over them before drawing it back when I noticed the name brands on everything. Nope, nuh uh, this was way too much, not going to happen.

I opened the dresser drawers until I found one full of swimsuits. All bikinis of course, I guess Tony hadn't been kidding about that. I did a mental shrug, since this was what I _normally_ wore to the beach or pool anyway. I knew I was going to have to wear one, so I refused to guess how much any of them cost.

I was running out of time, so I quickly grabbed a black halter bikini with relatively modest bottoms and threw them on. Then I grabbed a pair of matching short cover-up shorts to put over the bottoms out of another drawer. I pulled them on and put my hair into a ponytail. Then I grabbed my Rangeman hat and a pair of flip flops and dashed out of my room.

I had barely stepped one foot out of the sliding porch door when Natasha yelled out, without even looking, "if you take one more step outside and you don't have your gun, I am making you spar with me tomorrow." I gulped and retreated, shutting the door and dashing back toward my room when I ran smack into Steve's muscled chest. He grabbed me before I could fall. "Are you okay?" he asked with concern.

I gave his body a quick appreciative scan that matched the one he was giving mine before mentally shaking my head to remind myself of the impending threat. "Yep, sorry, thanks for the save. Gotta go get my gun or Natasha is going to kill me!"

He followed me and asked, "you went out without your gun?"

"Only a little bit," I muttered, "And I figured I was safe with you all around."

"Stephanie, someone is after you. You specifically. And we don't know who they are or what they're going to do next. Yes, we will do everything we can to protect you, but you need to take your safety seriously as well. What if we're incapacitated and they try to get you? You NEED to be armed."

He wasn't yelling at me at all; he was more pleading with me. I looked up at him and saw genuine concern in his eyes and I nodded my head. "I'm sorry, I wasn't thinking, it won't happen again."

He pulled me close and pressed a kiss to the top of my head, "I just want you to stay safe. I want you to be around for a very long time."

I wrapped my arms around him and nodded my head against him. "I know."

I walked over to the nightstand where I'd left my gun in the holster I was wearing earlier. I slipped the holster on and turned around and Steve's eyes bugged out of his head. He paled and said, "please don't do that to me. You look way too sexy like that; like a pinup model. You're going out to a pool anyway, so you won't want to wear your holster if you get in, right?. Just take your gun out, leave the holster, and carry your gun, okay?"

I smirked and said, "good to know" before doing as he asked. "Better?"

He nodded his head.

"Any other triggers, ha ha, that I should be careful with?"

He just put a hand on my back and escorted me back out of my room, but I could almost swear I heard him mutter, "don't even get me started on my shield." Hmm, that could be a fun one down the road.

We made our way back out to the patio and this time Natasha turned her head, nodding in satisfaction. "Don't let it happen again, that threat is a standing one."

I gulped again, but continued walking toward her. "How'd you know?"

She just smirked, but Clint piped up, "she didn't. It was a guess, and an easy one to make. It's clear that you think of the gun as part of your uniform but you don't like it. I was expecting the same thing. You're out of uniform, so the gun would get left behind. Someone is after you; you have to have it with you or within easy reach at all times. And even once we eliminate the threat, if you're going to be hanging around Cap, you're going to have to take those same precautions."

"I understand."

"I'm going to be working with you on your gun regularly from now on. We'll see if you can get more comfortable with it. Have you ever had to use it on a person?"

"Yes."

You could have heard a pin drop after that.

"Outside of the job?"

"Yes, the first time was shortly after getting my first gun."

"And?"

"I didn't really know how to shoot, I'd spent maybe 15 minutes at the range learning how to use it when Ranger bought it for me. I was being attacked in my apartment, and my gun was in my purse. He was going to shoot me so I shot him first. Through my pocket book."

They just stared at me. "Five rounds, all through the heart."

"That the only time?"

"No."

Everyone sat there digesting the information.

"Hey, this is a happy house, right?" I said, trying to break the tension. "Let me tell you about the time I shot the snake!"

Steve got up and walked over to the bar and got himself a beer, then he grabbed a second one and pointed it at me in question, I shrugged and said, "sure," then proceeded to start the story as he walked back.

A couple minutes later, Pepper just stared at me and said, "so let me get this straight, you got home and found a bag full of snakes on your door. You were surprised because really, who wouldn't be, and dropped the bag and the snakes got free. So you ran into your apartment and jumped on the counter. You only had one bullet and with that one bullet you managed to shoot a moving snake?"

"Pretty much. I mean, there's a whole longer version of that story with more creepy stalking, but that's the snake shooting bit in a nutshell."

They all chuckled at that. It devolved into story time and I started telling them the full stories behind the various news articles that Tony had dug up the other day.

Things got a little more serious again when Tony asked, "okay, what was your closest call?"

"Hmm, there are lots. Are we talking bombs specifically, or just close calls in general?"

He seemed to ponder the question and settled on "bombs."

"Again, tough call, but probably the first time I worked for Ranger. I needed some extra money or I was going to get evicted, so I asked him if he had anything that I could do to earn some cash. He agreed and told me that we were going to be 'renovating' an apartment. I assumed he meant interior decorating, so I went with it, even when he said they'd pick me up at 5 in the morning."

"What did he actually mean?" laughed Clint.

"We went to an apartment building that the landlord was having a difficult time evicting some junkies from, even though there were a bunch of kids and families in the building. We forcibly evicted them. That was actually the first time I met Lester, Tank, and Bobby. I distinctly remember the first thing Lester said to me other than introducing himself was, 'Man, you don't like to get shot. You don't like to get arrested. You don't know how to have fun at all.' He used to tease me about how absolutely unprepared I was for that job all the time. Anyway, we cleared out the apartment with only one minor altercation where Tank threw a junkie out the window on to a fire escape. He didn't know there was a fire escape though."

I took a couple sips of my beer.

"When we finished up, Ranger talked me into taking a graveyard shift of guarding the building with Tank. It was so boring that I'd laid down on the ground to take a nap," this got a few chuckles. "Suddenly Tank is saying someone is outside and he gets shot. In the vest, but I didn't know it at the time. It was the junkie whose apartment we had cleaned out. He had a bomb strapped to him and forced me to take him up to his apartment. He freaked out when he saw that it was empty and started screaming. One of the neighbors, an older lady, came out of her apartment with a gun and started yelling at him to shut up. He took a shot at her and she fired back before I could stop her. Her bullet hit his bomb and I was standing a few feet away when it exploded. Threw me across the hall and knocked me out. I woke up as I was getting loaded into the ambulance. I got to go home the next morning though, so it wasn't so bad."

No one said anything for a while, then Thor piped up with, "non-bomb specific."

"That's a _really_ tough one. I don't know if I can really decide. I've been kidnapped multiple times by people intent on killing me. I had an informant I was talking to get shot in the head when he was just a few inches away from me. I had a gang put out a hit on me and then bring in their own hitman from LA to do the job. They kidnapped me and were going to all rape me first. That one was scary, but my friend rescued me before they could. I still have nightmares about that sometimes."

I saw Steve shudder and I was pretty sure he was remembering the picture of the incident that Tony had put up that first night. So I reached over and squeezed his hand, reassuring him that I was fine.

I snapped my fingers, "Oh! One time I had three unrelated people all trying to kill me at the same time when I was unarmed!"

"How'd you get out of that one?" asked Natasha.

"There were two men and a woman. The woman was definitely the lamest of all of them, she was unskilled and her only trick was that she was trying to run me down with her car. She'd tried a few times. So anyway, the first guy shot the second guy, killing him, for trying to take me away with him. Then the woman came out of nowhere and ran the first guy down, killing him, and I jumped out of the way. She was incapacitated by the impact and was arrested."

"Okay," I declared, "enough story time for now! I see a perfectly beautiful pool that no one has been in yet, and I'm going to fix that!"

I stood up and then asked, "where do I put my gun while I swim?" Then I paused and looked at Steve, "are guns waterproof?"

He nodded, "for the most part, but we're not going to make you swim with it. Just put it next to the pool and remember where it is. If it gets wet, we'll just clean it later. You do clean your gun, right?"

I shook my head, "no, I'm pretty sure the Rangeman gun fairy does that for me. Also, I don't tend to keep them for all that long. They've been known to wind up still being in my purse when my car explodes. Ranger is never happy about that."

I saw the collective wince from the group at my response.

"Yep," Clint said, "lots of work to do."

I shrugged because it wasn't going to start right now and walked over to the side of the pool. I slid off my shorts, set them on a table the side of the pool, pulled the table closer, and then set my gun on top of them.

I slid into the pool and generally messed around and floated and one by one everyone joined me. Except for Steve who seemed perfectly happy sitting there watching us. After a while, I pulled myself out of the pool and picked up my shorts and my gun and flopped down on the lounge chair next to Steve's.

"Stories didn't scare you away?" I asked.

"Nope, I'm pretty tough to scare."

"Okay, and just remember, I know you guys have a lot more skills than me and more you want to teach me, but that was all before I started actually working at Rangeman and before the Merry Men started training me. I'm much safer now."

He reached over and laced his fingers through mine and said, "I know. And we're going to work on making you even safer."

I must have dozed off because I woke up a short time later to Steve shaking my shoulder gently. He was squatting down next to the lounger so I was looking deep into his eyes when I opened mine. "Come on, you need to get out of the sun for a little while."

I nodded in agreement and let him lead me inside, remembering to grab my gun on the way. I picked up my shorts too, but didn't bother to slip them on. When we got inside I said, "I'm going to go grab a shower. I'll be back in a bit."

When I came back out, I was pleasantly surprised to see Pepper sitting in the living room alone with a glass of wine. We hadn't had too many opportunities to chat, but every interaction so far had been enjoyable. She picked up the bottle and raised it to me in question, so I nodded my assent. I'm much more of a beer person, but hey, when in Rome...

I sat down next to her and said, "thank you for the room, it is gorgeous. I'm so grateful that you're letting me stay here until I find a place of my own. I promise, I'll start looking for an apartment tomorrow."

She just looked at me and said, "seriously, don't worry about it, there's no rush. We're happy to have you. You're good for them, especially Steve."

I blushed a little at that.

"Now, about the clothes and shoes. I appreciate the sentiment, and they're wonderful, but they're too nice and there's too many of them. I can't accept that."

She just waved me off, "I already cut off all the tags, so there's no returning them. You and I aren't the same size and the coloring would be all wrong for Natasha. You're stuck with them now." She smirked then added, "At least until you blow them up… or Steve loses his self control one day and tears them off of you."

I snorted out a laugh and said, "Seriously, Pepper, we just met!"

"Yeah, but it's there and you know it!"

We sat and chatted a while longer when my phone buzzed just as everyone else was re-entering the room from the basement.

I looked up and said, "hey, a bunch of the Merry Men are going to Shorty's for dinner tonight. They invited us if anyone wants to join."

"What is Shorty's?" boomed Thor.

"It's a pizza place. Decent pizza and lots of it. Beer too."

"Let us feast!" came Thor's enthusiastic response.

Everyone else chuckled but nodded in amusement. I sent a text back letting Lester know we'd be heading out shortly to join them. I also warned him that Thor was planning to "feast" so he might want to warn Shorty in advance.

Since there were eight of us and it was apparently impossible for Steve to get drunk, we all piled into one SUV with Steve as the DD. Despite his protests, I had Thor get into the front seat since he was so large, the rest of us would fit much more comfortably three across the bench seats.

Dinner at Shorty's was loud but perfectly good fun. More of my stories got told by the Merry Men, but I got to tell more than a few right back at them, so it balanced out. Each of the Avengers even offered up a personal story of their own at some point. We spent a good four hours there before deciding it was time to leave.

I was walking toward the SUV, holding Steve's hand when all of the sudden, my spidey senses, which had never calmed down all the way after the distraction, went absolutely haywire. I stopped walking forward, whipped my head around looking for a threat, and screamed, "Steve, shield!"

Without even hesitating for a second, Steve reached back with his other hand and pulled his shield off his back while pulling me to him and behind a tree. He crouched us down and pulled up the shield just in time as I heard something hitting it. Bullets. I was sandwiched between Steve and the tree breathing heavily and he whispered to me, "it's going to be okay. No matter what happens, stay here and stay low until I or one of the others come and get you and tell you it is safe."

All of the bullets seemed to be coming from one direction and Steve was coiled, waiting for his opportunity. They were getting closer and closer and I could barely hear the shouts as the Rangemen and Avengers tried to figure out what was going on. It was then I realized that only a few seconds had passed. I heard a click and the sound of gun magazines being released as Steve jumped up and ran toward the gunman, throwing his shield as he went.

I got my first look at the man. He was dressed a lot like the Merry Men in the pictures from their missions. Khaki colored fatigues, a dark shirt, and a combat vest over it. The man dodged the shield while making an impressive flying kick at Steve. They were moving fast, attacking and countering each other seemingly endlessly with a whole host of frightening, high-powered kicks and flips.

Thor came over and took up Steve's place, standing between me and the action. I couldn't see anything anymore, just hear the grunts and smacking sounds of the fighting. In some ways that was more terrifying because I didn't know if it was Steve getting hit. I guessed not though, based on the fact that everyone was still pretty much staying out of the way. Suddenly Thor turned around, closing his eyes, shielding me and clapping his hands over my ears. Around the sides of him I saw a bright flash- a flashbang! Steve didn't carry those!

In the silence that followed, I peeked around Thor and noticed Steve rubbing his eyes and looking around wildly. The man was nowhere to be seen. Then Steve walked over to his shield and picked it up, strapping it on his back. He walked back toward me, slipping through the circle of Rangemen who had placed themselves around Thor and I and crouched down in front of me. "Are you alright?" I nodded my head and took the hand he offered to help me up.

Natasha came walking over and winced when Steve glared at her, "alright, that one's on me, Cap. But you let him get away this time, so next one's on you."

"I would have had him last time if you hadn't gone off mission!"

"Fine, alright. But I keep telling you- I had a different mission than you!"

"Alright, kids, maybe now isn't the time or place," intervened Clint.

"To be clear though, that scary ass Van Damme dude isn't after Steph, right?" asked Lester.

"I don't know who Van Damme is, but that was Georges Batroc, and no," replied Steve, garnering a sigh of relief from the Rangemen. "He is almost certainly after me. We didn't exactly get along the first time we met."

"Good news is, it looked like you can take him, no problem."

"I don't remember it being all that easy," replied Steve, sounding as though he was still a little winded.

_**Steve's POV**_

"Probably because you haven't been running with me," came a new voice called out as everyone but Natasha and I whipped out their guns and turned at once, ready for an attack.

A man was standing several yards down the street, hands already raised to show that he wasn't a threat. I just grinned and strode over to shake his hand and clap him on the back. "Hey Falcon, how's it going man? I thought you were on vacation?"

"I was, until I saw the news stories showing pictures of your sorry ass surrounded by emergency crews and your team in front of an exploded building. Then I figured I'd better make sure you didn't need to be saved again. I have a friend in Trenton PD, and he gave me a list of a few places the group you're hanging out with might be. I happened upon you just in time to miss all the action." I rolled my eyes and he continued, "So, this guy tonight is all your old partner's fault? Good thing you upgraded to a new partner then."

Natasha smirked and said, "ha ha funny man." Then she walked up and said, "Nice to see you, Sam."

Now, Sam said, turning to me, "how about you introduce me to everyone here and maybe they'll stop holding those guns at me. They're not shooting yet though, so I'm assuming they're not bad guys."

The Avengers had walked up beside me in interest, so I said, "These are Clink, Tony, Pepper, Natasha you already know, Bruce, and Thor. Guys, this is Sam Wilson aka Falcon. He helped Natasha and I out when we were on the run in D.C. Then he helped us oust HYDRA in SHIELD and bring down the Triskelion and Helicarriers. When that was finished, he had my back while we were searching for Bucky."

"Nice to meet you all. And what's going on back there with the uptight mini-army?"

I turned around and saw the wall of black unmoving. I could hear Stephanie get more and more frustrated as she tried to get past them. I looked over at Ranger and said, "he's good, let her out." I held my hand out toward her as she walked forward, crossing in front of the SUV, and I was saying, "that is Stephanie Plum, and the men are her coworkers..."

I trailed off and started toward her as she stopped suddenly, just past the SUV on her way to me and I watched as a shiver ran over her body. I found that odd as it wasn't cold and she had on a jacket. Then I started to run toward her when she slowly turned, wide eyed and looked at the SUV. She very distinctly said, "shit," turned back away from the SUV, and started to move away right before it exploded. I kept running as the blast threw her toward me, and I grabbed her out of the air.

I gently laid her down on the ground. When she tried to get up, I quickly but gently stopped her and said, "hey Steph, why don't you just stay there for a minute. How do you feel?"

"Was anyone hurt?"

"I think you were the only one standing close to the SUV. Bobby's on his way over, why don't you let him take a look at you?"

"Good idea. Steve?"

"Yeah?"

"I think that one was meant for me."

Bobby walked up to us and started looking her over. I watched carefully, satisfied that he was being both gentle and thorough.

Finally he looked at her and said, "you're fine. Jacket's trash, but better that than your back."

He then turned to me and said, "nice catch. You probably saved her from a concussion, maybe some broken bones too."

I nodded tersely and helped Stephanie get up.

Sam approached and said, "you alright?" When Steph nodded her head, he stuck out his hand and said, "Sam Wilson. Speedy Gonzales over here was about to introduce us when you decided to take up flying. Trust me when I tell you it is much easier with wings."

"Stephanie Plum, nice to meet you. I heard you thought you'd missed all the action and didn't want you to feel left out, so it seemed like a good time to get exploded."

Sam stared at her for a second then started laughing, "well I appreciate the thought, but next time I'm willing to be left out to save you the hassle."

I just stood there shaking my head at their antics. Sirens had been quickly moving their way toward us, and I looked over to see EMS, the fire department, and Trenton PD arriving. Stephanie muttered "here comes the circus," so I pulled her into my side letting her know it would be okay and I wouldn't leave her.

Sam eye us with interest then said, "oh, is that how it is?"

I chucked then responded with, "oh, that's how it is."*

Things got a little hectic after that, but I managed to stick by Stephanie's side. She turned down the medics and they left pretty quickly, then she stood chatting with some of the cops, giving her statement rather informally while the fire department put out what was left of the SUV. At one point, Sam's friend who had helped him find us came up to greet him. Steph and the Rangemen new the cop, and I could see the men look relieved at that. I supposed that, if I hadn't known Sam, the timing of his arrival would have been tough to accept.

Finally we were allowed to leave the scene, and just as I wondered how we were going to do so, two more black SUVs pulled up and idled. "Hal and Cal will give you a ride home and leave one of the SUVs with you," said Ranger. Then he followed it up with, "the building is open to you anytime, but it's Friday, so hopefully we won't see you in the office until Monday. We'll call if we get any new information. You did good tonight, Captain Rogers."

I climbed into the back of one of the SUVs, and was pleasantly surprised when Stephanie climbed in with me and slid directly to the middle seat of the bench, even though there were only two of us. She buckled both of our seat belts, picked up my arm, slid herself under it, and rested her head against my chest. Then she closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep before the others even finished getting into the car.

I woke early the next morning, surprised that I'd been able to sleep at all. Finding myself in the living area before anyone else, I decided to go ahead and cook up some breakfast. I was finishing off cooking up the last of the huge batch of french toast when I heard Tony call out, "Good morning, Sleeping Beauty" and get only an annoyed grunt in return. Knowing what that meant, I reached over and started pouring coffee into an oversized mug and doctoring it the way she liked. When Stephanie walked in, I just silently handed her the mug, waited until she'd gulped it down, then took it from her to refill. This time, when I handed it back to her, I held onto it for a couple seconds and leaned down to give her a quick peck on the lips. "Good morning," I said.

Stephanie reached up and pulled me down to give me a slightly firmer kiss then responded, "good morning, " and sashayed her way out of the kitchen, slipping past a grinning Sam who was leaning against the doorjamb.

"Man, you're in trouble."

"Actually, I think I'm exactly where I want to be. Now, help me cart all the out to the other room."

Breakfast was a noisy affair, and during the course of it we ironed out some plans for the day. We sat there, I like to think a little less stunned this time, when Stephanie turned her phone on and started deleting messages again. When everyone started talking about the day's training Steph, she groaned and mumbled something about near death experiences, being sore, and getting the day off.

Clint scoffed and stated, "near death experiences are a reminder of the importance of training."

Stephanie wasn't having any of it, so I made her a deal. I'd take her out on the bike now, in exchange for her doing some training now. She smiled at that, so I figured we had a deal.

A short time later, Stephanie and I were standing in the living room, getting ready to leave. Stephanie was wearing jeans and a blue halter top, and I had just commented on the fact that she needed a jacket to protect her when Pepper spoke up, "Steph, go check your closet. I know you haven't had time to go through everything there, but Ella was insistent that you have multiple leather riding jackets. I thought that was odd, but I guess we all know why now. She knew about the bike and also your propensity for destroying clothes."

Steph nodded her head and headed back toward her room and everyone else just turned and looked at me expectantly.

"What?" I asked.

"You sure you want to take her out without backup?" asked Tony.

"Yeah, so far no one really knows we're in the area, so we should be fine. We both have our alerts if we need them. Besides, we're not going to go out for very long."

"If you're going out without backup, you gotta take your shield. It might draw attention."

I nodded my head and said, "true, but hopefully not too much. And we're not going to be off the bike for too long."

Natasha chimed in, "so, first date. Where are you going?"

I just shook my head, "not telling you. You'll show up even though you're not invited!"

Natasha just grinned.

Stephanie came back out, this time with a chocolate colored jacket on. She looked fantastic. I held my hand out to her and she grabbed on to it. We walked over to the dining room table where our weapons were and I dropped her hand. I started handing her each of her weapons, after checking each one over, of course.

Then I finished up by handing her her shield holster. This time, instead of strapping it on to her, I handed it to her and watched in satisfaction as she slid it onto her back. Not quite as smoothly as me, of course, but still pretty quick. Then I barked out, "quick, my shield!" and grinned as, without hesitation, she reached back, slid it out of the holster, and handed it off to me. I beamed at her then handed it back. "We'll work on more later, but that was good," I said with a nod.

Everyone was watching us with amusement, and Sam said, "well, they're adorably deadly."

I let out a breath of frustration, "why does everyone keep saying thing things like that? No one says that to Clint and Natasha!"

"Because Hawkeye and Black Widow would kill me in a second if I did," came Sam's fast reply. He looked at them slightly nervously and added, "plus, there's nothing 'adorable' about them. They're scary."

Clint grunted in agreement, and Natasha patted Sam on the cheek and said, "thanks!"

I just shook my head and turned back to Steph, checking her over to make sure there was nothing we'd forgotten. Satisfied, I nodded my head and led her out of the house and into the garage. She rolled her eyes when she noticed everyone following us. "Do they seriously have nothing better to do with their Saturday?" she said under her breath.

We got to the motorcycle and followed the same pattern as yesterday. I climbed on and put on my helmet before helping Stephanie strap hers on and climb on behind me. She snuggled up and grabbed onto me tightly, then I took off out of the driveway.

I'd investigated the area last night while Steph was sleeping on our way back from Shorty's. I knew I wanted to take her out again on the bike, so I could feel her pressed up against me. Plus, I knew I'd want some time alone with her, away from the constant scrutiny of our teams. For today, since I really didn't want to be out alone for too long, I'd settled on heading down to the boardwalk at Seaside Heights. It was early fall, so it was still plenty warm, I knew she liked the beach, and I was hoping it wouldn't be too crowded.

We drove along the coastal highway for a little under half an hour before reaching our destination. I was right, it didn't seem to be too crowded, and I was able to find a parking spot easily. I helped Stephanie off the bike and she was practically bouncing with excitement.

"I haven't been here in years! I'm not sure how much of the boardwalk is going to be open after the storm and the fire, but I'm still just excited to see everything again!"

The sight of her standing there with so much joy on her face and my shield on her back was almost too much for me to take. I turned around on the bike and pulled her back onto it before pulling her in for a deep kiss. I let the kiss go on for a couple minutes before gently pulling back. I dropped a few more quick kisses on her as we slowly came back to reality.

"What was that for?"

I grinned, "I wanted to."

She gave me a coy smile, "well, feel free to want to anytime."

So, taking her at her word, I pulled her in for another. Finally I broke it off and said, "alright, let's go see what's still open and get a bit of a walk in." I helped her back off the bike, and took my shield back.

We walked along the boardwalk, exchanging stories and getting to know each other out from under the watchful gaze of our friends. Despite my protests that it was much too early, we wound up stopping and getting some soft serve ice cream before wandering down to the beach and sitting on the beach to enjoy it and chat some more.

There was a little bit of a breeze, so I pulled Stephanie close to me. After a while we just sat there in silence. Then it started. The sound of Stephanie's phone cut through the blissful silence. She looked at the screen and said, "I don't recognize the number," she said with a shrug and silenced it. "Sorry about that."

We tried to go back to our peaceful contemplation, but Stephanie's phone just kept buzzing. Finally, she turned it off completely. After around five more minutes, my phone started ringing too. I ignored it at first, when suddenly Jarvis's voice came blaring out of my watch shocking me and saying, "Captain Rogers, Mr. Stark asks that you please answer your phone immediately."

I stared at Stephanie for a second and then I looked at my phone. Sure enough, Tony was calling. I answered it and heard, "Finally! Look Cap, you're an idiot." I bristled. "Have you heard of something called the paparazzi?"

"Sure, they're photographers who chase after celebrities and take their pictures."

"And you are?"

"A former army captain and consultant for SHIELD, who currently just takes odd jobs for former heads of SHIELD while trying to end HYDRA for good?"

I could see panic starting to form in Stephanie's eyes and she was shaking her head. Tony sighed on the other end of the phone, "No, Capsicle. You're a celebrity. You have your own exhibit at the Smithsonian for goodness sake!"

"Well, I wouldn't go so far as to say I'm a celebrity."

"Steph! Can you hear me?" Tony yelled out, "If you can hear me and you think Cap could be defined as a celebrity, nod your head!"

Stephanie nodded her head, eyes wide. I had a feeling she was a few steps ahead of me.

"She says yes, but I still don't see what this is about."

"You're a celebrity who has never publicly been seen dating anyone because, well, you don't date anyone."

"Yeah, so?"

"So, you're an idiot! Why did you have to go and kiss her in the middle of the street? With her wearing your shield, no less?!"

"Uhhhh…" I stammered, really not knowing what to say, "because I wanted to?"

"Yeah, I could tell. She looked like she enjoyed it too. Unfortunately for you, so did the OTHER PEOPLE who were watching and decided it would be a good idea to videotape you. And then sell those videos to the celebrity news sites."

I groaned.

"Yeah! And then, while you two were being all lovey dovey, the paparazzi came out. They've been taking pictures of you walking along the boardwalk and then sitting together on the sand. Can you not hear that helicopter? That's a news helicopter, they've got a live feed on CNN right now!"

"You've got to be kidding me."

"Nope. Trust me, buddy, I wish I was. So, we're working on an extraction plan right now. Clint and Natasha are already there backing you up in case Stephanie's stalker or Batroc watch the news." I reached for my shield and Tony just said, "nope, don't do it unless you get attacked by someone with something other than a camera."

"Now," Tony continued, "You two are going to get up and continue acting just as cutesy as you were on the way there because trust me, if they can turn this into a 'trouble in paradise' story, it will get way worse. You're going to walk down the boardwalk and get back on the motorcycle and head over to the Tom's River bus station. Stephanie probably knows where that is."

Stephanie was listening in intently and just nodded her head. "You're going to stay outside and let Stephanie go in like she's taking a bathroom break. We've arranged for some fans of yours to be there, so you're going to create a diversion by signing autographs while you wait. Natasha is going to meet Stephanie inside, and sneak her out of there in one of the SUVs. Then, after just five minutes, you're going to go inside 'to check on her' and Clint will meet you. He will help you get out unnoticed. Rangeman will pick up your bike later. Then you are going to come back to the house, and _we are going to talk about all this_!"

Two hours later, since we had taken the very, very long way back, I walked into the house and found Stephanie in the front living room alone. She had her head tipped back and she was pinching the bridge of her nose between two fingers listening to her voicemail messages. I could tell she had been crying, so I walked up to her, pulled the phone out of her hands, and turned it off before handing it back to her.

I looked around to verify that we were alone, and leaned over her and down to kiss her lips, then I slowly trailed kisses along her cheeks where her tears were. "I'm so sorry," I said.

She laughed and looked at me through watery eyes, "it's not your fault. I'm just sad that it ruined our morning. I was having an unbelievably good time."

I smiled and said, "I was too. Still, I'm sorry. If for nothing else than because I should have been protecting you, and I didn't even notice people taking video of us! Or the news helicopter circling."

Stephanie hesitantly returned my smile and said, "I didn't notice them either. I was too wrapped up in us. But now we know for next time."

I nudged her foot shyly with mine and asked, "next time?"

She nodded and gave me a huge grin, "if it's alright with you."

"That is more than alright with me."

She reached up her hand to me and I pulled her off the couch. Then she raised up on her toes to give me a kiss and said, "good. Now, everyone is not-so-patiently waiting for us in the other room, so let's go get lectured at for a couple hours, alright?"

* * *

**A/N:**

*borrowed from Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Steve: "If that's what you want to call running"

Sam: "Oh, that's how it is?"

Steve (mockingly): "Oh, that's how it is"

Since I've already got an Author's Note in here, I just wanted to thank those of you who keep sending in the reviews chapter after chapter. I appreciate it so much!


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: **The characters and things you recognize in this story don't belong to me. They belong to Marvel and Janet Evanovich. I'm pretty sure you'll recognize which is which. Mistakes belong to me.

**A/N (or warning):** In my opinion, Stephanie's mother is a huge bitch in the books, and I have written her accordingly. If you're a fan of hers, you may just want to skip down to Steve's POV once they all leave for the Plum's house.

* * *

Chapter 7

_**Steph's POV**_

We walked into the other room and looked around. All the Avengers were there, along with Pepper and quite a few of the Merry Men. Joy. More people to witness my most embarrassing moment yet.

"Steph, this could not possibly be the most embarrassing moment of your life," said Ranger.

Damn. Out loud. I looked at him, and then I pointed to the TV that was showing "Breaking News" that was Steve and I. Jesus Christ, I mean, I know I hadn't been on a date in a while, but I didn't think even my mother would qualify me going on one as "Breaking News".

Laughter. Double damn!

"Alright, kids," said Tony, "you look like you had a fun date. Was it at least worth this mess."

I blushed and looked at my feet and nodded.

"Seriously, they did that at the same time. I don't think they could get any sweeter without giving us all cavities instantly," said Sam.

I shot him my best death glare and he held up his hands in mock surrender, "Lady, you do not need to spend any more time with Tasha."

Now it was Natasha's turn to glare at Sam as Lester piped up, "can't blame that on Natasha, she could always do that. It didn't used to be scary until she started being able to back it up on the mats. Now it's terrifying."

I couldn't tell if he was joking or not, but I was pretty sure, since he'd recently been reminded of the fact, he wasn't. So I turned to him and nodded.

Tony clapped his hands, "Anyway, back to me. As I was saying, you've created a bit of a stir. We think that it might not take too long for people to realize that you were spotted about half an hour from where I just bought a new piece of property. So, we don't think you should stay here, at least for the next week or so."

"Babe, you need to be more aware of your surroundings. You too, Captain." Steve nodded his head looking ashamed of himself. "Until this blows over, we're going to go ahead and transfer you to our new Manhattan office. Bobby, Lester, Tank, Hector, and I will be in and out of that office for the next several weeks setting it up, and we could use your help. The rest of the guys will take turns helping Lula, for hazard pay, this weekend and next," supplied Ranger.

Tony nodded his head, "we'll be moving you into one of the guest rooms at Avengers Tower for the time being."

There was the rumbling noise of a bike outside, actually it sounded like more than one bike, and Tony nodded his head. "There's your ride. We'll have lunch here together before you go, while Pepper gives you both a crash course in dealing with the media. We recommend that you keep a low profile in Manhattan, but they'll probably find you out sooner rather than later. Then you two will head out with Clint and Natasha following you. Sam will provide aerial support. Questions?"

I thought about being angry because I hated being ordered around, but truthfully, what they were proposing made sense. Other than the Rangeman office thing. "You have a Rangeman office in New York?"

"Will by the end of the month. We've been thinking of expanding. We'll have one in Washington D.C. too about a month later."

Seemed very suspicious, but I didn't want to get into it now, so I shrugged. I looked at Steve and said, "what do you think?"

"I think it makes sense."

"Me too. There's just one problem." I noticed Ranger wince out of the corner of my eye.

"What's that?"

"I'm going to have to stop and see my parents first if I ever want my mother to speak to me again."

"Beautiful, just think of how great your life would be if she didn't!" chimed in Lester.

Steve shot him a disbelieving look and started to protest, so I said, "No, he has a point. I think that all the time. But she _is_ my mother, so I just can't bring myself to do it. I know Trenton's out of the way, but I don't really see any way around it. Especially if I'm leaving town indefinitely. If it stretches more than a couple days and I didn't go see them before I left..." I just trailed off and shuddered at the thought.

"Okay, so we'll stop by your parents house."

Ranger barked out a laugh and clapped Steve on the shoulder. "Good luck! You better hope her Grandma isn't home." Then he turned to me and said, "I know you don't want to hear this, but if you're going to set foot back in Trenton, even if it is a quick stop, you're going to need to take extra backup with you until you're well out of town and we're sure no one is following you."

I nodded in agreement.

"Alright, that's settled then. Let us feast!" boomed Thor.

I turned and looked at him and said, "Thor, you know not every meal is a feast, right?"

Thor just nodded his head happily and strode out of the room.

A couple hours later, Steve was easing his bike to a stop outside my parents' house. I heaved a sigh and climbed off then said to him, "you might want to sit this one out, it isn't going to be pretty."

"I don't see how I can."

"Simple, you wait for me to go inside, then you pull away down the street and you and the rest of the Avengers wait out here while Rangeman goes in with me. They're used to this, so they can handle it. I see no need to subject a new group of people to this."

"Stephanie, she's your mother, how bad can it be? I go in, I ask your father for permission to date you, charm your mom, and we head back out."

I couldn't help it, I just laughed. "I'm sorry," I wheezed, "I'm not laughing _at_ you. Not really. That's a very sweet picture you have and I wish it was going to go like that. Unfortunately…"

I trailed off as I heard the screen door slam open. I mumbled, "too late" with a wince and then I heard it. "Stephanie Michelle Plum! What are you doing out there with that motorcycle riding hooligan? What will the neighbors think? You get inside right this instant."

I sighed, "alright then, I guess you've made your choice. She's not going to want to let you in, but her Burg manners will make her. So the quicker we get inside, the less juice for the gossip mill." I turned around and walked toward the house with Steve and the rest of the Avengers and Sam following me, not saying a word.

I got to the front door and my mother was just standing there, staring at the group. "Ma, are you going to let us in? I'd rather not do this outside."

At that, she silently opened the door and walked through it, letting it slam behind her rather than holding it up for us.

"Oh this is going to be good," I thought. Steve gave my shoulder a squeeze, then held the door open for me. I walked in and found my mother waiting just inside the entryway. We were all kind of crammed in the entryway when I heard my dad yell, "for goodness sakes, Helen, let them in!"

My mother turned on her heel and stormed off into the kitchen. I led the way into the living room, where my dad was sitting in his chair. Much to my surprise, he turned off the television and stood up to greet the guests.

He introduced himself around and gave them a hearty, "it's an honor to have you in my home."

I heard my mother scoff and then commanded my presence in the kitchen with, "well, come on, there's cake and coffee to serve."

A couple of the others made as though to protest and I just shook my head frantically. "Okay, Mom, I'll be right there."

I turned to Steve and said, "just stay here, try to relax. Ignore anything you hear come out of the kitchen." Then I slowly made my way to the kitchen, not unlike a death row inmate being led off for execution.

As soon as the kitchen door swung shut behind me, I noticed that the phone had been pulled out of the wall and my mother's bottle of whiskey was at least half empty. Then it started.

"Young lady, just what do you have to say for yourself? You blew up your apartment, a good portion of the building, and as far as I can tell, at least two cars. The whole time, you're running around with those no-good vigilantes! They're criminals, Stephanie! They were brought before congress on charges. They're a public nuisance and a danger to society. How could you possibly be seen with them. What will people think?!"

She paused to take a breath and I cut in, "They are heroes. They saved the world! Most of them have done so multiple times. Congress had hearings because congress likes to talk and pretend they're important. They were never charged with anything because that would be moronic. They ran into battle with aliens who had powers and advanced weapons they had never seen before and they risked their own lives to save innocent civilians. They're super heroes and we need them! And for your information, the explosions weren't my fault. I didn't blow up anything, it was someone else trying to kill me, we don't know who."

"It absolutely was your fault. If you would just stop being so selfish and quit your job, people would stop trying to blow you up! It's really not that difficult. You go back to Joe, you promise him whatever you have to promise him to get him to marry you, you quit your job, and you start having kids. You're not getting any younger and Joe isn't going to wait forever. You're an awful bounty hunter, and it is absolutely laughable that a security company would hire you. You parade yourself around in front of criminals every day; you're practically begging these people to attack you!"

"Mrs. Plum," came Natasha's voice from behind me, "I didn't get a chance to introduce myself earlier, my name is Natasha. Thanks for welcoming us into your home. I just want to let you know that I've seen Stephanie at her job, and she's actually quite good at it. And from what I hear her capture rate is almost unbelievably high. Bounty hunting is an important job in the community, it returns criminals, who are again breaking the law by not showing up for court, to prison. It makes communities like yours safer to have strong, competent apprehension agents like Stephanie around."

"I know who you are, you're a murderer. An assassin. KGB. I wouldn't have you in my home if my horrible daughter hadn't brought you here. And I don't need or want you in my personal conversation, so just shut up and get out."

I stood there in shock. Was my mother really that stupid? I stared at her dumbfounded. Who would say that to Black Widow?!

"I'm sorry you feel that way, but I'm here for my friend, Stephanie."

I could see my mother getting a full head of steam going and quickly cut her off, "don't you dare call her a murderer. You don't know anything about her or her childhood. She was forced to do things you couldn't imagine, but as soon as she was given the right opportunity, she got out. And she has more than evened the score since then. She is an honorable woman."

Natasha shifted uncomfortably and looked surprised. Unfortunately, we both paused for too long, providing my mother with an opening. In a mocking tone she just said, "oh, isn't that sweet. My whore of a daughter is friends with a murderer. Just when I thought things couldn't get any worse. Is this woman the one teaching you to prostitute yourself in a public street and in front of cameras? Don't think I didn't see the pictures and the videos of you with that traitor out there. He may have people fooled into thinking he's a good man, but that is obviously not the case. Just lies that this spy probably helped him come up with. If you insist on spending time with him and his 'friends' then you're no daughter of mine. I hope he breaks your heart and leaves it torn to shreds. Joe will never take you back now; you're useless to me. You're not my daughter anymore. You're nothing more than an embarrassment and a disgrace."

I heard the door bang open just as I was getting ready to lunge at her, and two hands wrapped around my waist and pulled me back into a hard chest. One that I could feel practically vibrating with rage.

Before anyone could say anything else, I was surprised to hear my father say, "Helen Plum, you are the only embarrassment here. How could you possibly say those things about these people? We, and the rest of the world, would almost certainly be dead if it weren't for them. And how dare you say those things to Stephanie? She's our daughter. We love her. Or at least I thought you did. Now it is clear that you don't. You have until the end of the day to get out of _my_ house." He turned to me and pulled me into a hug, "Pumpkin, you are an amazing woman, I love you and I'm so proud of you. These are good people, good friends, that you brought with you today. Don't listen to your mother, you are a blessing to have as a daughter. I have no idea how you turned out the way you did, but I am thankful every day for it. Have a good trip. Your grandmother and I will be looking forward to seeing you when you get back and getting to know your new man better. You did good with this one, Princess. Please stay safe."

Now I was shocked to my toes by that. My father never said anything no matter what was going on in the house, and he certainly didn't show emotion. I gave him a big hug and whispered, "I love you too, Daddy. Tell Grandma I love her and I'll see her soon? I won't come back here if that woman is here though, we'll have to meet up somewhere else."

"Don't worry, she won't be."

With that, Steve started gently leading me out of the house. I followed him in a dazed stupor Did that all really just happen? When he opened the front door, I was shocked by what I saw. The Rangemen were holding back reporters who were camped out on the neighbor's lawn and the streets. They started screaming questions at us and I flinched backwards into Steve, not sure what to do or where to go. We weren't going to be able to get onto the motorcycle and out of here. And even if we did, we wouldn't be able to lose this many reporters. And there was no way I was going back into the house behind me.

"Plan B!" yelled out Tony. Sam reached over and grabbed me telling me to hang on. His wings popped out and he took off with me in his arms. I noticed the lightning behind us and could just make out Thor grabbing a hold of Steve. We flew to the roof of Rangeman where Sam set me down gently. My legs just gave out as everything that had happened today clicked into place in my mind and I sank down to my knees, wrapping my arms around myself and sobbing. A circle of rain appeared around us and then Thor and Steve landed. Steve immediately raced to me and gathered me in his arms, rocking me and making soothing noises.

A minute later I heard the thunk of Iron Man landing, and barely registered Natasha's voice, so he must have brought her with him. I couldn't tell you for sure, but probably 20 minutes later, everyone else had joined us. I looked up as a Stark Industries helicopter landed on the roof a ways away, and I could make out Pepper's strawberry blonde hair inside of it. Steve just picked me up and walked with me in his arms toward it. He sat down with me in his lap and somehow managed to strap us in together. The others got in, still not saying a word, and we took off.

Half an hour later, I hadn't stopped crying and we were landing. Steve just picked me up again without a word and carried me into a building. He sat with me on a couch and just continued to try to soothe me while the others sat helplessly around us watching. Eventually, Bruce got up and left the room. He came back and tried to talk to me, but I couldn't process whatever he was saying. I felt Steve nod and felt a prick in my arm. A few minutes later, I felt myself relax against Steve and fall asleep.

_**Steve's POV**_

I let out a relieved sigh when Stephanie gave in to the sedative and fell asleep. I kept her in my lap and took a deep breath. Yeah, she might be angry tomorrow, but she would have made herself sick if she hadn't stopped, and she had not been showing any signs of stopping.

I ran a hand through my hair, and looked around the room. "Fuck." I said, very clearly.

Everyone looked at me, completely shocked. I guess they'd never heard me curse like that before, but I'd been in the army during a war. I had a very full vocabulary I could use if I chose to, I just usually chose not to.

"Did he just…" stuttered out Tony.

"Yep, never thought I'd hear that," replied Sam.

I flushed and mumbled an apology to Pepper and Natasha, and Natasha just looked at me incredulously as if to say, "really? You've heard me say much worse."

Pepper just brushed it off, "no, I think that was entirely called for. What the hell happened? I thought you were just going to see her family?"

"We did," replied Tony, "and despite Steph's warnings, Captain Potty Mouth over there insisted on going in."

"I, for one, am glad we did," said Natasha. "I'm glad we were there to back her up."

"So, what the hell happened?" Pepper asked impatiently.

"It was awful." I said, "her mother clearly didn't want to let us in, but as Steph told me, she did because it was the 'polite' thing to do. Probably the only polite thing she did the whole time we were there. Stephanie introduced us to her father and things seemed tense, but okay. Then Stephanie's mother, and I am using that term in a biological sense only here, came out and told Steph to help her get cake and coffee ready to serve." I stopped then, not really wanting to continue the story.

Sam spoke up, "things were going well with her father. He was friendly, gave Steve a little bit of a tough time over the whole kissing videos thing, but ultimately gave his approval. Then we started hearing raised voices from the kitchen, and he asked Natasha to go in and back up Steph since her grandmother wasn't home."

Natasha continued, "I walked into the kitchen and neither of them noticed me at first. Things were getting worse and worse, her mother was saying some vile things, so I tried to introduce myself and take some of the heat off Steph. It didn't work and she just kept going."

Tony finished up the story, "things clearly weren't getting better, so Steph's father, Frank, went in to the kitchen and we followed him. We got there just in time to hear Helen call Natasha murderer, Stephanie a whore, and Steve a traitor. Then she basically disowned Stephanie and said that she hoped Steve broke her heart. Frank stepped in and told Helen to get out of his house. He tried to comfort and support Stephanie, but there's only so much you can do after hearing things like that. We left, but as soon as we stepped outside, the paparazzi was there waiting for us. That's when we got the hell out of there and called you in."

"Poor thing," came Pepper's response. "I can't even imagine a mother saying that to her child."

We all just nodded our heads in agreement. None of us wanted Stephanie to wake up somewhere new, confused and alone, so we just stayed there. Natasha and Clint were sitting on the floor with Natasha's head on Clint's shoulder and Clint's head resting against the top of Natasha's. Tony and Pepper were in an oversized chair. I was sitting on the chaise section of the u-shaped couch with my legs kicked out in front of me and Stephanie on my lap. Bruce and Thor were occupying the two other armchairs in the room, and Sam was mirroring me on the other chaise across the couch.

Strategies were something that always made me feel comfortable, so pushed for us to develop one. Obviously, Stephanie and I weren't going to get to head out alone again anytime soon. I took a bit more of a ribbing from my teammates on how completely oblivious I had been, and Tony had some fun showing a video that he'd spliced together of the "best" the news had to offer on the subject. It really was insane the theories that some of these people who called themselves reporters came up with!

When the discussion came up of where to put Stephanie so as to best protect her, Tony first suggested on putting her on the hotel-like floor that Stark Industries used for business guests. Nobody really liked that solution, so Natasha and Clint quickly suggested putting her in one of their guest rooms. We all had our own floor, so most of us had several rooms available. I was a bit surprised because I couldn't remember either of them ever having a guest over for dinner, let alone allowing someone to stay in their space. I suggested that she could also stay on my floor, which seemed to shock everyone, but I pointed out she'd have her own room and it was really no different than her being in the same suite as me at the hotel or same wing as me at the house. Plus, Sam also stayed on my floor when he was around, so he could be a chaperone of sorts.

"Why don't we let Steph choose?" suggested Natasha, to which I readily agreed.

We took turns getting up, taking showers and changing into more comfortable clothes. When I got back from my turn, I picked Stephanie back up and gently set her on my lap again. I gave her a brief kiss on the top of her head as she snuggled back into me making herself comfortable in her sleep. Pepper passed out blankets to everyone and we settled in, likely for the night. Unlike last time Stephanie had been asleep on my lap, I wasn't nervous at all, just content.

I woke up the instant I felt Stephanie begin to stir in my arms and glanced around the room, everyone else seemed to be asleep. She had twisted around in her sleep during the night, so we were laying chest to chest with her head in the crook of my neck. Her legs were on the outside of mine, and I gently shifter her around a little, trying to make my body's appreciation of the situation a little less obvious. I smiled down at her as she opened her eyes and realized she was sprawled out on top of me.

"I don't understand how you can be all muscle and still so comfortable," she grumbled then attempted to snuggle back in and go back to sleep.

"It's no use, Steph, we saw that you're awake, and I want to talk to you," said Natasha.

"No. Comfortable," replied Stephanie and she burrowed her face deeper into my neck. I chuckled, only to stop abruptly when I heard Stephanie growl then felt her give my neck a quick warning nip. I tried really hard to concentrate on something other than how good that felt.

"How have you not figured it out yet, Natasha? You have to give her coffee first, talk second." Clint piped up. "I'll go get it started, you make awful coffee."

"Hey!" Natasha gave us an assessing stare and her eyes lit up. I saw her reach for her phone and used my Captain America voice to say, "don't even think about it!"

Stephanie half-whimpered, half-groaned- thankfully quietly enough that only I heard it- and all I could think was, "oh man, she has even less of a filter in the morning." While that would probably be fun to test and play with one day, it was killing me at the moment.

I rubbed my hand in what I hoped was a comforting manner while glaring daggers at Natasha.

"Don't worry, Natasha, unless you tell him otherwise, Jarvis records video in this room, so I can get you all the pictures you want." This from Tony.

Clint came back out and handed me one coffee cup and set a second on the table next to me. I nodded my thanks, and jostled Stephanie, getting her to sit up next to me on the couch. We were both still under the blanket though, and she tangled her feet with mine. Despite the fact that they were freezing, I could definitely get used to this. I handed her the first cup of coffee wordlessly and watched as she downed it. Then I took the mug from her and replaced it with the second one from Clint. She looked at both Clint and I and murmured a "thanks."

I watched as she looked around then shook her head a bit. "Man, I am extra fuzzy this morning," she said, "and did we have a slumber party? did everyone sleep out here?"

Bruce cleared his throat, "I, uh. You were, uh, crying for so long. And uh. Well, you know. You were going to make yourself sick. And we were worried about you, so I uh. Well, I gave you a sedative. One Bobby told me you'd had before and wouldn't have an adverse reaction to."

We all held our breaths as Stephanie mulled it around a bit in her head. At first, you could see some anger and frustration flit across her face, but she quickly settled into gratitude. She nodded in acceptance and said, "thanks for that. It was probably a good call. But, why are we… where are we? And why are you all here?"

"I suppose I'll cut you some slack for not recognizing it from the inside, but we're in Avengers Tower, formerly Stark Tower. Welcome!" said Tony.

Then Sam chimed in with the answer to her second question saying, "we didn't want you to wake up alone in a strange place."

Tears welled up in Stephanie's eyes, and we waited while she pushed them back. Then she went around the room, giving each person a hug and murmuring her thanks. We weren't really a hugging group, but it seemed no one could resist. When she came back to the couch and resumed her previous spot with me under the blanket, she started picking at it and fiddling with it. Not looking up she said, "I just want to apologize for the things my mother said and that you had to hear them. I hope you know I don't agree with her. I just, I'm really sorry about that."

"Yeah, well, I'm sorry your mother is a huge bitch," replied Natasha, "and you made it abundantly clear that you didn't agree with her. _You_ don't have to apologize for a damn thing _she_ said. Thanks for standing up to her for us, I'm sorry if we caused problems with her for you. She'll probably come around."

"It's been going on for years, probably my whole life really, but it has been worse since I started bounty hunting. And she took it up another notch after I dumped Joe. It isn't your fault in any way, so don't worry about it. No, she won't come around, but I'm fine with that. It hurts, but I refuse to let her make me feel bad for being myself anymore. If I never see her again, I'll be okay with that. Maybe not today, but someday soon."

I squeezed her hand, which had stopped fiddling with the blanket, offering her my support.

"Alright," Tony said, rubbing his hands together, "a little birdy, or twelve, told me these were your favorite so… Dummy- bring us our breakfast!" His clumsy robot rolled in carrying a huge bakery box. "Now, I did get some assortment in case someone really doesn't like Spitfire's favorite, but mostly we have Boston Creme's!"

Stephanie clapped her hands with delight and grabbed herself one as the box got passed around. I had just recently gotten myself under control, so I was extremely grateful when she managed to eat it without moaning. I could tell it was taking a lot of effort for her to do so though. The box made its way back to her and I watched indecision flicker across her face. When she looked at me and said, "there's a gym right?" I just smiled and nodded as she took another, this from the woman who'd insisted on ice cream between breakfast and lunch yesterday!

Once everyone had their fill, Stephanie wanted a tour of the tower. I watched as Tony explained Jarvis to her and asked her submit to the biometric scans for the file. He started explaining how Jarvis would guide her around if needed as well as provide her access to places that she had permission to access alone, otherwise she'd need to be accompanied by someone with the appropriate permissions. I spoke up, "Jarvis, please give Stephanie complete access to my spaces."

I winked at her when she turned and looked at me in surprise. Then we both turned in surprise as Natasha and Clint gave the same command. I honestly had no idea how she had managed to win those two both over so completely in such a short amount of time, but I was grateful for it. If for no other reason than that I knew they were carefully watching her back, especially if and when I couldn't.

"Right, which brings us to, where you will be staying," exclaimed Tony, "Now, of course, I have set aside for you one of the suites that we provide to our out-of-town business guests, just a few floors away from us. But, each of these clowns get their own floor, and have plenty of extra rooms in their space as well, including fully furnished guest rooms. So, if you'd rather not be flying solo with all the boring business people, Clint and Natasha have offered you one of their guest rooms. Or the Cap there has said you can stay in a guest room at his place where Sam will also be staying. So, you get to decide."

I was completely surprised when, without any hesitation whatsoever, Steph turned to Clint & Natasha and said, "thank you so much for your offer, I really do appreciate it. I think I'd like to stay on Steve's floor though."

Clint and Natasha both looked pleased at her decision, though Natasha quickly added, "of course, it's no problem. And the offer still stands. When we have some time today, we'll show you around our floor and you can keep your access to it. We'll set aside one of the rooms as a backup room for you, just in case you need a break from the military duo." That part was said with a wink in my direction.

We spent some time familiarizing Steph with the common areas to which we'd also given her free reign, and then Pepper popped up with a medium sized bag in her hands. She handed it to me, and I took that as my cue to take Stephanie to my floor to get settled in. I was a little nervous on the way down in the elevator, I wanted her to like the space, but it was kind of plain. Though, truth be told, from what I could remember of her apartment in the few seconds I'd seen it before it had been blown up, it was definitely a vast improvement.

Sam had left to catch a quick flight down to DC and pick up some of his things from storage. He'd be back later tonight, but that meant that we were about to be alone in my apartment. Those nerves hit me again, and Stephanie looked at me and said, "I can stay with Clint and Natasha if you're not comfortable with this. I accepted because, well, I want to spend time with you and I figured you wanted me here if you offered. If you were just being chivalrous though, and this is too soon, I really don't mind staying with them."

I didn't say anything, just continued to guide her down the short hallway off the elevator and to the apartment door. I gestured for her to use her handprint to let herself in, just to make sure it was all set up properly. When the door opened, we stepped inside and I dropped the bag, picked her up, and pressed her against the foyer wall as I dropped my head down to hers in a heated kiss.

When we broke apart after a few minutes, I rested my forehead against hers and looked her in the eye before saying, "I want you here. Please don't ever doubt that." Then I gently set her down and picked her bag back up before leading her down a hallway. I stopped outside the open guest room and opened the door for her. "This is yours, there's a bathroom through that door over there that should have towels in it as well as toiletries. Please make yourself at home; you can stay as long as you want."

She smiled at me and nodded, her eyes telling me that she understood the double meaning there. Then said, "Come on, show me the rest of the place!"

I took her by the hand and lead her back into the hall pointing out the extra closet and bathroom then my room, the only other doorway in this hall because it was… oversized. Then again, that isn't particularly surprising since Tony designed all of the floors.

"Aren't you going to show me your room?" she asked with feigned innocence.

I just squeezed her hand, grinned at her, and replied, "nah, some other time. I think I'm going to make you work for that one."

Without another word, I led her out to the main area of the apartment and let her look around. It contained a sitting room, a theater room, a dining room, and a kitchen, all oversized in an open floor plan without walls between them. There was even a fully-stocked bar in the corner, not that I often took advantage of it. Once she'd walked around and gotten a good look at the place, I led her down the other hallway. In it was Sam's room, a small laundry room, another extra bathroom, and another door at the end of the hallway.

This one I led her down to and ushered her inside. Tony had seen me sketching and had turned this area into a large art studio with a small office space off to one corner and a small sitting area in the other. Everything was facing the floor to ceiling windows that looked out over the city. In the center of it all stood a large easel and there were sketchbooks of various sizes scattered about. The internal wall with the door was filled with bookshelves and books, most of which I hadn't had any time or inclination to start reading yet.

Stephanie did a slow circle around the place with a huge grin on her face, "this is fantastic! You're an artist?"

"I was trying to be before this all happened," I said gesturing down at my body, "now it is just something I enjoy to pass the time when I can."

She walked back over to me, leaned up, and kissed me softly on the lips. "I think that's great. I hope you'll show me some of your art sometime."

I nodded my agreement just as Jarvis spoke up saying, "your presence has been requested in the gym in 15 minutes."

I smiled at Stephanie's groan, largely because I didn't think she _actually_ minded all that much; I knew for a fact she'd enjoyed working with Natasha. I led her back out and we went into our bedrooms to change into workout clothes. When came back out she was carrying her weapon holster and wearing her yoga pants, tank top, and sports bra. I looked her over and said, "you don't normally wear the tank top do you? It's not athletic material."

"Nope."

"I appreciate the thought, but you don't have to put on extra clothes for me. I thought I made it clear the night of the distraction that I like you for you, regardless of what clothes you have on. Plus, you'd still be more covered than the bikini and I was fine with that. More than fine, in fact."

Steph grinned at me and I led her out of the apartment and to the elevator. We got to the gym before anyone else, and I walked over to the punching bags while Steph got started on the treadmill. She looked over her shoulder and her eyes caught mine before she turned back around, whipped off her shirt, and draped it over the machine. A minute later, Clint and Natasha walked in. Clint immediately walked over to the treadmill next to Stephanie and hopped on. The two conversed amicably and I could tell that their run was becoming a little bit of a tradition for the two of them.

Natasha was over at the barre, warming up. "Don't wear yourself out too much, she called out to Steph!" I chuckled a little as I watched her pale. I wondered when she would stop being so afraid of Natasha in the gym. They clearly got along outside the gym, so you'd think she'd understand that Nat wasn't going to hurt her. Although, Natasha fighting was definitely an intimidating thing.

About 15 minutes later, Stephanie cooled down to a walk and then made her way over to Natasha. I watched as Natasha walked her through a bunch of stretches on the barre then the mats first. They spent the next 30 minutes going over everything Natasha had taught Steph the last time, this time using Clint as a practice dummy. Then Natasha sent her over my way, telling her she'd done well, and they'd slowly add in more time each day.

I was excited to get to work with Steph on her training, boxing was kind of like my therapy. I enjoyed it, but it also provided me the opportunity to let everything else go and clear my mind. Sometimes that involved me getting stuck in my thoughts and breaking a few bags, but usually it didn't. When she got to me, I taped up her hands then led her over to an open area. I worked with her a bit having her punch and kick my hands before moving her over to a bag and working with her to adjust her form. "I don't know why you said you're hopeless at this. You're actually pretty good, and I can definitely make you very good before too long."

After another half hour, I was silently cursing my own choice to encourage her to take off her shirt. That was a lot of skin that I was brushing against when I corrected her posture. It felt great, but it was slowly driving me mad. At that point, Clint walked up to us, a knowing look on his face when he addressed me, "I think she's had enough of that, Cap. I need her to still have some arm strength left for the shooting range." Steph groaned hearing that.

Clint reached over and mussed her hair and said, "come on, for every 30 minutes of time with your gun, I'll think of something fun for you to do."

She smiled a little at that and followed Clint out of the room, grabbing her shirt on the way and putting it back on and slinging her holster over her shoulder. Natasha and I followed behind, and I was surprised when we first made our way over to the elevators. We went to Clint and Natasha's floor and Natasha spoke up, "we're just going to give you a quick tour first. Cap, you have full access here too, by the way. You have since we became partners in the field, you just never asked."

I laughed, "you actually both have full access to my floor too."

We walked inside their apartment and it was clear that Tony had actually given them two floors, which explained why the elevator skipped a number. It was like a regular apartment, a lot like mine in layout, but stretching above it were a bunch of perches and catwalks. As they were showing us around, they made a point to show us where they had weapons hidden, telling Stephanie that if anything ever went wrong, she could help herself to any of them she felt comfortable using. We're not talking a handgun here or there by the way, we're talking enough fire power to overthrow the government of a third world country.

Then they showed Stephanie to her backup room and showed her where there were weapons hidden inside that room as well- mostly duplicates of things they'd already seen her carry with Rangeman. They told her she was welcome here and in the rest of the apartment any time and for any reason. Her eyes welled up in tears and I watched their baffled but content expressions when she pulled each of them into a big hug.

Natasha cleared her throat past obvious emotion and said, "alright, well enough of that sappy nonsense, it's time to play with weapons!"

"Steph, why don't you go change into pants that you can actually wear that holster with, then meet us in the shooting range? If you're not there within 5 minutes after we get there, we're coming after you."

She split off from us in my floor on the elevator and we continued back to the gun range. I got a little bit of good natured ribbing from the two of them about the fact that she was staying on my floor, but nothing I couldn't handle. We talked through everything we wanted to cover with her. Natasha was going to work with her on throwing knives, Clint on guns, and I wanted to work with her a bit more with my shield. Depending on how tired she was, Natasha and I would work with her another day as the guns seemed the most immediately pressing.

Stephanie walked in, right on time, clearly dragging her feet. She spent 30 minutes working with her gun, and for her first "fun" break, Clint showed her how to use a bow. The others had joined us all partway through her first 30 minutes, and we watched on in amusement as Clint worked with her. It was clear that she'd never used or even touched a bow before when she started by holding it upside down and in the wrong hand. He never seemed to get frustrated though, just patiently corrected her.

"He told me earlier that she may not like weapons now, but his 'little sister' was damn well going to learn to use one and enjoy it before he was done working with her," said Natasha. "I figured if he really did see her as a little sister, there was no way he wasn't going to be working with her on the bow. I just didn't think it would be in her first session. She's not the worst I've ever seen though; he'll be able to have her hitting targets in no time."

"Out of curiosity, who is the worst you've ever seen?" asked Thor.

Natasha grumbled "I don't want to talk about it!" and Clint, who I hadn't realized could hear us barked out a laugh and called out, "it's Nat! She was absolutely awful! Halfway decent shot with it now though."

We all got a chuckle out of that, especially when she rolled grumbled to herself again about how bows were stupid anyway. Clint had switched Stephanie back over to her gun and changed out the stationary targets for moving targets. Surprisingly she was actually better at that, much better.

"She thinks about it too much when they're stationary," assessed Thor, and we all voiced our agreement. After a half an hour of that, Clint started clapping in delight.

"I was hoping you'd make it a full hour with your gun! This reward is extra fun. Avengers, suit up and assemble in Mission Training! It's paintball time!"

We all let out cheers and left to do as he said. Natasha dragged Stephanie with her and told her she should have an extra uniform that would fit Stephanie like a glove. Shen she laughed evilly when she saw me gulp at the thought. Ten minutes later, as I was getting ready to leave my apartment, Steph walked in with her original gun holster in her hands, "just dropping this off…" she trailed off when she caught sight of me in my newest uniform and I blushed a little at the look on her face. Of course, then I took in what she was wearing and I was pretty sure I had the same look on my face. A few steps later and she was in my arms again, our tongues tangling.

Jarvis interrupted a few seconds later and said, "Miss Natasha warned me this might happen. She says if you're not down there in 5 minutes, she's hacking me for the tape of this encounter and sending it to every news agency she can."

We pulled apart and rushed down to the elevator, fixing ourselves up. I cleared my throat and said, "uh, you look nice."

Seph just grinned and said, "right back at you."

We stepped off the elevator, ignoring everyone's grins and walked over to the group. We explained that Bruce didn't quite have the right temperament for paintball, so he'd be keeping score and changing up the environment as he saw fit. It was a quite high-tech room, and with Jarvis's help, he had a lot of control over various scenarios. We drew names out of a hat for teams as none of us trusted Tony not to rig the so called "random" team generator he claimed to have made for the room. It was Thor, Steph, and I against Tony, Clint, and Natasha. Thor and I both shrugged off Stephanie's profuse apologies that we got "stuck" with her.

We huddled up as Bruce went into the observation room to set up the first environment for us and went over basic strategy. While Thor and I had standard military tactics that we were well versed in to suggest, Stephanie had… entirely different strategies that we were excited to try. They would certainly take the others by surprise!

Bruce's voice came through the loudspeakers and told us that the first round would be capture the flag. The doors to the training room opened and we all stepped in, going to our corners and waiting for the five minute set up period to begin.

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**A/N:** Sorry for the wait, I've been a bit under the weather and all the feels in the first part were difficult to write. Hope this meets your expectations. :)


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: **The characters and things you recognize in this story don't belong to me. They belong to Marvel and Janet Evanovich. I'm pretty sure you'll recognize which is which. Mistakes belong to me.

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Chapter 8

_**Steph's POV**_

I listened to Thor and Steve as they laid out various battle plans, and it all seemed logical, methodical, and, quite frankly, predictable. I understood that they've both led armies in battle, but I expected something a little more original from them. Not to mention that they'd probably used these tactics dozens of times both in the field and in these training exercises with their teammates- they would be expected. What we needed was the element of surprise. And I told them as much. Then I explained my plan, and watched as the smiles spread across their faces.

Sure, there was still going to be a lot left to chance, but if I _did_ get hit, they could go back to one of their boring ass strategies. If I pulled it off, the other team would begin to understand why some of my skips chose to, lovingly I'm sure, call me the BEA from Hell. I also liked BEAtch. That one was harder to say, but the first time I'd heard it from one of my wiley hooker skips, I couldn't stop the grin that had burst across my face. That has only pissed her off more.

When the doors opened, we made our way into our respective corners and picked out our gear from the stockpiles. Everything was made to look realistic, so we carefully double checked that the guns we were using had paint rather than live ammunition in them.

When the buzzer sounded, we were off. The trick was to make this realistic without it being realistic, I knew. The lights were off and the paint wasn't glow in the dark or anything, so really only Bruce would know if someone was shot. He would connect to us and tell us we were out through our earpieces, which were on separate channels from the other teams.

Steve and Thor stayed back on defense while I put on a bit of a show, knowing that I was probably being watched by at least Hawkeye if not all three of them. They'd be waiting to see what I was up to. I pretended to be in stealth mode as I crept into their territory and scouted out the area. As I crept closer to their flag, I noticed Natasha getting ready to make her move, but pretended otherwise. At the last second, as she sprang toward me, firing at me relentlessly, I threw my body over a nearby obstacle and landed with an audible thud. I waited a couple beats then yelled out, "damnit guys, I didn't see her, sorry." Followed by "Bruce? How do I get out of here again?" As I got up and made my way toward the exit.

What I was pretty sure they didn't see though, was me circling back around and staying in the game. I heard Bruce confirm on our team channel that I was, in fact, not hit. Now it was time for me to hide and hide well until the perfect moment. Finding a spot near their flag that I could hardly fit in, I hunkered down. The plan now was for Steve and Thor to go in a more defensive position and try to draw all three opponents out to try to capture our flag. A couple minutes into my hiding, I heard all three teammates whispering and I knew the time was approaching. About ten minutes filled with hearing sporadic gunfire later, I heard Steve say calmly into the comm, "Thor, I've confirmed all three hostiles incoming. Confirmed, three hostiles incoming." Quick as a flash, I ran over to the other team's flag and grabbed it. Then I slunk around the outskirts of our section and said, "now."

Steve and Thor jumped up, pinning the others with gunfire behind the various obstacles they were hiding behind and I slid out into the opening, slapping their flag next to ours. My team let out victorious cries as Bruce announced our victory over the all-page channel on the comms. The lights turned back on and I was staring at a shocked Natasha saying, "but I shot you!"

"Nope!" I said, with a grin. "You just thought you did, and I let you go on thinking that way."

"Bruce?"

Bruce walked in, "I just watched the replay and visually confirmed what Jarvis's scans are showing. You missed her, there's not one tiny drop of paint on her."

To my surprise, Natasha broke out in a huge grin. "Nice!" Then she gave me a high five, "I want to see the video of that round!"

We all piled into the observation room and watched the round over again. Jarvis was able to provide us video that was essentially night vision, and contained the audio from both teams comm units. We watched the replay. Tony replayed the confrontation between Natasha and I over and over again. Steve said, "cutting it a little close there, Steph. And you didn't have to land that hard, you alright?"

I just waved him off and said, "I had to make it believable, right?"

We continued on in the video and watched as I patiently and methodically made my way towards their flag and my hiding spot. Not moving each time until I was sure I was alone, and not making a move until Steve's voice confirmed that all three of them were at our flag.

"Sneaky. Since the spies were both on my team, I wasn't expecting the sneaky," Tony said playfully.

"Yeah," Clint piped in, "we were expecting a textbook military extraction."

I grinned triumphantly at Thor and Steve as Thor said, "that was our plan, but Lady Stephanie convinced us to be less predictable."

Discussions started up about a second round, for which I was definitely game, but Clint just said, "nope. If Steph's good at the gun range tomorrow morning, we can have another round after."

That was just as well because I needed some time to come up with some different strategies for next time. I didn't think they'd fall for the same thing again. They'd also made it sound like capture the flag was just one of the formats they played, so I needed to do some reconnaissance and find out what other formats there were.

Steve and I went back up to his apartment to change. Thank goodness, that spandex-y materials of Natasha's suit was so not my style. It was more Lula's style. Although I'd give Natasha credit, because she definitely pulled it off, even on camera. I took my time in the shower, scrubbing and buffing away the gym and making sure that I was freshly shaved. I had a feeling Steve's hands wouldn't be wandering too far anytime soon, but a girl can never be too careful. Plus, with a potential stalker in the mix, I never knew if and when a trip to the hospital might be involved.

I put on a pair of shorts and a casual shirt and headed back out into the living area. I didn't see Steve around, so I went over to the TV and flipped it on. It seems an Avenger's Tower TV came complete with all the channels in existence, so way too many for me to be bothered going through right now. "Jarvis, are you capable of playing movies through the TV for me?"

"Of course, Miss Plum. What would you like to watch?"

I got up and walked into the kitchen to grab a water, chatting along the way to Jarvis while trying to figure out which movie I should watch. I'd decided I wanted it to be an action movie, but one that was really good, not just entertaining. Jarvis suggested Dirty Harry, and I squealed in delight. That was perfect. "I wonder if Steve has seen it," I mused while trying to reach up to get a glass- who keeps them that high?

"Seen what?" came Steve's voice behind me, scaring me. I screamed and knocked over the glass that I had just barely gotten my hand on. It fell to the counter and shattered and I shrieked again.

I turned around and said, "are you trying to scare me to death? Make a little noise next time!"

"I'm so sorry, are you alright?"

I looked down and saw a couple of small nicks from the glass, but they weren't bad at all. I shrugged and said, "close enough. Sorry about your glass. Do you have a broom?"

"Yes, but you're going to take care of those scratches and I'm going to take care of this glass. You don't even have shoes on."

With that, he scooped me up and carried me in to the living room, then ran and got me a first aid kit and passed it off. I watched to see where he got the broom from, for future reference, then set about repairing the scratches.

He came back out and checked over my work, seemingly satisfied, and brushed a kiss across one of the bandaids. "I'm sorry I scared you."

"It's okay. I need to be more aware of my surroundings. I was just busy chatting with Jarvis and picking out a movie to watch. Is that okay? Wanna watch a movie?"

"Sure. I hope you don't mind, but I ordered some pizza for lunch."

"Steve, I never mind pizza. For any meal or a snack at any time on any day of the week!"

He grinned at me and leaned over to give me a kiss, then settled us both down on the couch, me sideways with my legs over his lap and his arms across the back. I snuggled my head into his chest and had just told Jarvis to play the movie when the apartment opened. I felt Steve tense up for a fraction of a second then relax as in walked Clint and Natasha followed by Thor, Tony, and Bruce. All carrying popcorn.

"Just so you know, I have Jarvis intercept all orders to pizza places. Then he tells me who placed the order, asks me what I want to add, and adds to it for me. I took the liberty of adding in everyone else's favorites, and a few appetizers to the order. Then I rounded up the other two who have access to the floor- I'm hurt that I don't, by the way, Captain. You're not supposed to play favorites. I grabbed the rest of the team on our way down and here we are. Aren't you two cute all snuggled up like that? So, what are we watching?"

I rolled my eyes and made to sit up, but Steve just held me where I was. The others settled in around us and handed us an extra, big bowl of popcorn. Without answering Tony, I told Jarvis to play the movie. As soon as the opening scene started, Clint said, "oooooh! Dirty Harry, nice!" then he reached over and gave me a fist-bump.

When we paused the movie to all get lunch, I shared, "you know, my first gun was a Smith & Wesson revolver. Ranger bought it for me, said it was easy to use. Unfortunately it was a little too easy- my Grandma Mazur took it out of my purse one night at dinner, loaded it, and shot the chicken we were eating with it."

The whole room burst out laughing, Tony gasping out, "are you serious?"

"Yep, Grandma is a hoot. My mother might not be happy to have a bounty hunter in the family, but Grandma is another story. She loves it. Says it'll keep me young. You men should all be grateful she wasn't home. She'd have been pinching your butts, trying to cop a feel, and making outrageous speculative comments about the size of your... personal areas."

More laughter followed this statement. They think I'm joking but one day they'll learn they were wrong.

"Maybe," said Steve, "but I think we'll like her. Sounds like you might get your fire from her."

There I went again, thinking out loud. At least it wasn't too embarrassing this time. "You're not wrong," I replied.

We settled back into the living room to finish the movie, Steve and I resuming our previous positions on the couch. Throughout the remainder of the movie, he would occasionally run his hand casually up and down the bottom half of my leg. More in a soothing manner than anything else as it tended to happen during the more intense scenes of the movie.

When the movie was over, everyone stood up, letting us know they'd see us at dinner, then made their way out of the apartment. Once the door shut behind the last person, I heard Steve mutter, "finally" then found myself locked in an impassioned kiss. I felt him trying to pull me closer, so I shifted myself around so I was sitting fully on his lap with my legs on either side of him.

His hands moved, sliding to my hips under my shirt and pulling me closer, but never straying from my hips. I groaned at the feel of his hands on my body, and heard him return the groan when I rocked myself against him. Honestly, I couldn't have stopped myself from doing so. My heart was racing and I felt as though I might self combust at any moment. Reluctantly, Steve pulled himself away and leaned his head back against the couch. I leaned forward and strung kisses along his neck, nibbling here and there as I went. His hands tightened a little on my waist then relaxed.

Suddenly I found myself on my back being pressed into the couch by Steve's body as he gave me a kiss that somehow managed to be even hotter. "Steph, it's too soon, we have to stop," he said between kisses.

"I know; we will. It's just sooooo good."

He slowly eased back the intensity of the kisses, and this time when he pulled away, he stood up and took a step back.

"Holy hell." I sat up and looked at him playfully. "Something tells me that you might not be as innocent as some of your coworkers and the country seem to think."

"Yea, just because I won't tell them any details, they seem to think I'm a saint or something. I like to take things a little more slowly, keep them private, and definitely keep them to myself. But, like I've told them time and time again, I'm 95, not dead."

"No, you most certainly are not, you're not even out of practice."

"Thank you! Will you tell Natasha? Because she kept saying I needed practice and that everyone needs practice. Well, I don't really mean tell her, it's fine, I just. Ha! I was right."

I giggled. "I think I can manage to work that into conversation sometime. Why would she think you need practice? Other than the fact that you keep things private, which, by the way, I guess I should apologize about the whole paparazzi thing then."

Up until this point, I was still flat on my back on the couch where Steve has left me feeling too pleasantly buzzed to worry about getting up. But, when he held out his hand, I took it and let him pull me to my feet.

"We had to kiss one time while we were on the run to keep our cover. She just turned around, said something about PDAs making people uncomfortable then she grabbed me and kissed me. It was awful; it was like I imagine kissing my sister would be if I had one. So then she was asking me if I'd kissed anyone since 1944 and telling me I needed practice."

I pulled his head down by his neck and gave him another deep kiss. "Nope, no practice required for you! In fact you're the best I ever…" I trailed off awkwardly and dropped my gaze down to my feet.

His fingers slid under my chin and pulled my face up until my gaze met his. "Hey, I wasn't fishing for that, but it is good to know. And you're the best I ever… as well," came his reply. "And the paparazzi was not your fault, I should apologize to you for that. But I had such a good time, I can't really bring myself to regret it. I don't care who sees us together. I may want to take things a bit slower, but definitely not too slow. You're it for me Steph, I can feel it in my bones. I just want to get to know you a little more first. Before it becomes all about that. I've had that before, but this, this is going to be more."

By the time he finished that little speech, my eyes were watering and I was doing my best to keep my tears from falling. I thought back on my previous relationships. Dickie, well, he wasn't even worth the amount of time it took me to even think his name. I was reasonably sure I'd never loved him, I just went along with what was expected of me by him and my mother.

Joe was, complicated. At times I was sure I loved him, but in hindsight, I knew that wasn't the case. He was more comfortable, and he kept my mother off my back. And he was acceptable in bed, certainly compared to Dickie, when he bothered trying and wasn't watching TV at the same time. I was certain he'd never loved me either, and his obsession with me marrying him was based on the fact that he couldn't stand having lost me. I was grateful every day that I'd gotten out when I could instead of winding up trapped in that relationship for the rest of my life.

Ranger I did love, in my own way. And the irony of even thinking that phrase wasn't lost on me. Part of it was that if I was still giving a piece of myself to Ranger, then I knew I would be safe from accidentally giving all of myself to Joe. I think if Ranger had been whole and had been willing to put himself into a relationship and open up to me, that we could have had something. But ultimately, it wouldn't have worked. Because he was secretive by nature, and even if he'd made an effort, that would have broken us in the end. We would have torn each other apart- him breaking my heart, and me sending him back into the dark spiral he'd been in before I knew him. As it stood though, we'd never made it fully into a romantic love. It was more of a deep friendship with extreme sexual compatibility thrown in.

Though, from what we'd experienced together so far, I could tell that I hadn't seen anything yet. Steve and I were going to be off-the-charts amazing together when we reached that phase. Truth be told, though I'd drive myself (and him if I could) a little crazy with the wanting in the meantime, I was more than willing to take it slow with Steve because I too knew that this was going to be more. All. There was a place deep inside of me that was dying just to get to know him because it understood the connection we were going to have.

I could tell by the look in his eyes that he really wanted to know what I was thinking. And I was sure some of it must have slipped out of my mouth but he was waiting for me to actually tell him. But, as much as he wanted to know, he wasn't going to push me if I wasn't ready. That level of trust and acceptance of me made me smile up at him. And then I explained all of that to him, in almost those exact words. I don't think he liked the part about the "extreme sexual compatibility" with Ranger, but then again, I wasn't going to lie. Then again, I think he liked the part immediately after where I told him we were going to be better. At least he liked it if his smirk and knowing look meant anything. And I softly reassured him both that my relationship with Ranger was nothing more than a friendship now and that I already felt more and wanted everything with him.

When I finished, he told me about his past. About Peggy Carter, who he'd had hopes of starting his first real relationship with only to have that dream dashed when he woke up nearly 70 years in the future. They'd never really had a chance, and while I knew I should probably be grateful for that at least on some level, it really just made me sad for both of them. He'd visited her a handful of times when he'd found her in D.C., but she'd been ailing and died a short time later of Alzheimers. Anyone he'd been with since waking up had been about putting the past out of his mind or fulfilling basic needs. Boy did he blush and stammer saying that! I didn't begrudge him that in the least. And just as I had reassured him about Ranger, he reassured me about Peggy. And I could see the truth behind that in his eyes. He was ready for us.

We shared another kiss, this one filled with love and promise of the future. Then he looked at me seriously again and said, "I'm an Avenger."

I laughed out loud and said, "yes, Steve, I think I figured that out by now."

He grabbed my hands and squeezed them, silently urging me to be serious for just a little bit longer, so I nodded my head for him to continue.

"SHIELD may not be whole or completely functional right now, but if they get some form of it back up and running, I'll probably consult for them. I don't plan to sign on full-time again because frankly, I don't think I could trust them. But I'll still take some missions for them, outside of the Avengers when the need arises. Are you going to be able to handle that? I feel like I was given this gift of the Super Serum and I owe it at the very least to Dr. Erskine who developed it, to use that gift to protect and save as many people as I can. So I may have to go away, but I will always do everything I can to come back to you."

This time I pulled his face to make sure he was looking in my eyes and could see my sincerity as I responded, "the Rangemen, many of whom really are my best friends- not just Ranger. They all take or have taken missions. I've sat at home wondering if they were going to come back. I know how difficult it is, and I know it will be more difficult with you because I'm going to love you so much more. But please believe me when I say that I understand what it will mean, and I'm okay with it. I respect and admire that decision and I will never try to stop you. I will support you and I will be here waiting _when_ you get home." At his nod, I continued, "do you understand that I'm not going to give up my job even though it might be dangerous. At least not anytime soon? I'll keep training with the Rangemen, and I'll let you and your team teach me anything you want to, but I won't give it up. It's part of who _I_ am, and I couldn't give it up if you asked me to. I can't try to change for other people anymore."

"I understand, and it's how we met. I wouldn't change a thing about your job or about you. You're right for me just the way you are. But I will absolutely be training you, and getting the others to help out anyway that they can, just like they are now. We might be tough on you at times, but it is because we want you, _I_ want you, to come back home to me every day. I need you to."

I let out a huge sigh of relief and watched as he grinned at me. I gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. "Okay, enough of this feelings stuff! What should we do until dinner if we're not doing that," I said waving a hand in the direction of the couch.

He laughed and thought about it for a second. "How are your arms feeling? We never got around to practicing with the shield earlier. We could work on that some more. It's probably more important now than ever, given that the whole world knows that you mean something to me now."

He started clearing a big open space right there in his living room, and I said, "really? Inside? That seems like a horrible idea!"

He just smiled and said, "we won't do anything major today, especially since I'm sure you're tired. We'll just practice with the harness a little more and some handoffs. After today, we'll go ahead and practice in one of the training rooms on the other floor. I just don't quite feel like sharing you anymore this afternoon. At least not until I have to, and you know that if we go down there, some or all of the others will show up to watch."

He was right, so although I still had my reservations, I agreed and helped him clear out the space. It quickly became apparent though, that I wasn't actually helping, so I walked into the kitchen and got a couple of apples and some bottles of water. I carried them out and set them down on the table before biting into one of the apples and watching Steve work. When he was done, he came over and ate his apple then went off for his shield while I got my harness.

The next hour passed quickly and was a lot of fun. We practiced exactly what Steve said we would, including the handoffs with plenty of bantering and flirting back and forth. I got pretty decent at the harness and easiest handoff for me was obviously just to hand him the shield When we started talking about scenarios in which we might be separated from each other, I did an okay job of sliding it across the floor in such a manner that he'd be able to slide his hand into the holders on a run and have it in his arms. Just okay. And really, okay might have been a little bit generous. I was going to need some work on that.

Then it happened. Steve was trying to convince me to try tossing the shield. I was protesting because, first of all, it was way too heavy to throw. Steve's response was that we were going to have to add some weights into my exercise routine. I pouted a little but agreed. My second concern though was the, quite obvious fact that we were inside. I tried telling Steve that I couldn't really throw things very well and my aim was horrible, and maybe we should try some other time when he had pads on and there wasn't the chance of me wrecking his apartment. But he was insistent, and then when I still wouldn't give in, he started teasing me. I think he'll think twice about doubting me when I say I'm not good at something the next time, and also that he'll refrain from underestimating my strength if he pisses me off. Because I shouted "fine", then wheeled back and tried to throw the shield toward him frisbee style like he suggested and my aim was off. Horribly off. And he couldn't get there fast enough.

And of course, right that moment, Sam walked back into the apartment. Steve and I were just standing there. I had my hands covering my mouth, Steve was gaping, and the shield was embedded in Steve's TV. Sam pulled up short and I looked over at him and he said, "seriously? I leave you two alone for one afternoon and this is what happens? I expected to walk in on you making out or something, not destroying the TV. Don't you know better than to play with weapons in the apartment?"

At that, I started snickering. Then it turned into a full belly laugh and I was doubled over wheezing because I was laughing so hard. I looked up just in time to see Sam start laughing too, and then glanced over at Steve to see his lips twitch before he joined in on the laughter.

When we all finally calmed down, Sam was gasping out, "man, you should have seen your faces when I walked in. Steph was horrified and you just looked so surprised, Steve. Tony is going to be pissed!"

"No, no, no! I can fix it!" I exclaimed!

They both just turned and looked at the TV then back at me. Finally Steve said, "Doll, I know I still have a lot to learn about technology, but I'm pretty sure you can't fix that."

"Okay, well not fix it fix it, but look. You can take it off the wall, I'll write down the model number and size screen it was. Then first thing tomorrow morning, I'll run out and get a new one. You can hang it back up, and Tony doesn't need to know. Forget Tony, actually, _Pepper_ doesn't need to know!"

Steve just waved me off, "it's no big deal. You wouldn't believe the number of things Thor and I have broken. Plus, you were the one who didn't want to throw it inside, so there's no way you're paying for it. And next time, I know to listen to you!"

Sam had walked in and was standing between us know and he just clapped Steve on the back and said, "You always listen to the woman. You really don't know anything about women do you. We need to have a talk before you lose this little thing here."

Steve just rolled his eyes and shot me a look that clearly said, "see what I'm saying" and I giggled.

"Okay, well, we'll leave it here for now," Steve said, finally stepping over to pull his shield out of the TV and the wall behind it. No, there would be no fixing that. "Why don't we all go get cleaned up for dinner. We'll leave in 10?"

Sam and I both nodded and we all walked to our separate rooms. Ten minutes later we headed out to the common floor and the second we stepped foot inside two things became immediately clear. 1) Ranger, Tank, Bobby, Lester, and Hector were in town already; and 2) Jarvis had totally ratted us out.

As soon as they saw me, everyone let out whoops and Tony called out, "hey, look who it is, Cy Young!"

I rolled my eyes at him and then looked at Steve, amused when he said, "hey, I understood that reference!" with just a little more excitement than it warranted.

Tony in turn rolled his eyes and said to Steve, "you know, you really don't have to announce it every time it happens. You've been in this century for a while now, you should be getting more and more references as you go and it should stop being exciting!"

Steve blushed and rubbed the back of his neck. I made my way over to the Rangemen when I noticed the TV in the sitting area playing video footage of the shield incident on loop. I had to admit, our reactions were funny, but really, did they have to rub it in. I turned to Tony and whined, "I really am sorry, but do we have to watch it over and over again."

He just responded with a cheerful, "yep!" so I continued on my way greeting my guys. "So, what are you all doing here already? And who is running Rangeman Trenton?"

"Well, we figured you'd been unsupervised for a day and we probably needed to get here so we could make sure you didn't get into trouble. Looks like we arrived a little too late," said Ranger.

I reached over and slugged him in the arm. Hard. He didn't even flinch, the jerk. When Pepper walked in a couple minutes later followed by what appeared to be Stark Industries wait staff, I still hadn't convinced Tony to turn off the video of me destroying the TV on loop. I watched as her gaze fell over the TV and mentally winced. "Pepper, I'm so sorry, don't worry, I'll replace it!"

"First of all, Stephanie, you clearly were trying to tell Steve how awful of an idea that was, so I think we can safely blame this one on him. Second of all, the 'Earth's Mightiest Heroes' could also be called 'Earth's Most Destructive Heroes' so that TV doesn't even dent the cumulative destruction they've all done at various points. And let's not forget- Jarvis the video I loaded to you just before I came in?"

The screen abruptly changed to what appeared to be a video of Tony's birthday party. He looked to be extremely drunk. Then it fast forwarded to him putting on his suit, blowing things up, and fighting Iron Patriot which led to blowing up even more things. After the party footage ended, it switched over to a video of Tony on the news challenging the Mandarin followed by their mansion being blown up by missiles.

"Clear?" asked Pepper.

"Crystal."

_**Steve's POV**_

We all ate dinner and then settled in to the living area to chat and exchange more stories. I knew Stephanie was feeling a little down about the whole television thing, even though she really didn't need to, but I had a feeling that I knew what would cheer her up. So, I started talking about her training that morning, which invariably ended with bragging to the Rangeman guys about paintball. Then I had Jarvis pull up the video and we watched it through. You could practically see her confidence come bounding back when the video showed her grabbing that flag and successfully bringing it back.

"I can't believe you fell for that, Natasha! That was definitely her 'I'm innocent' voice!" teased Lester.

"Hey, I don't have one of those!" defended Stephanie.

"Sure you don't, Little Girl," Tank replied mockingly. "We all saw the video of the time you tased Hal. There is definitely a voice."

Lester pitched his voice extra high "Wait a minute. Let me see the gun for just a second."

Bobby jumped in, "then bam! Tased."

"Yeah, and no one made it to stop Stephanie from leaving the building because they were laughing so hard. So the Slayers got her! I really don't enjoy this story," grumbled Ranger.

"But it made for such good replay video," said Lester.

Talk continued for a while before the next day's schedule came up. Ranger had a bunch of buildings scheduled to look at for the Rangeman Manhattan office, and wanted Stephanie to join them. I was pleased when Stephanie insisted on training with us in the morning first, but a little less enthusiastic when she didn't want me or my team to tag along.

"It isn't that I don't enjoy spending time with you all, but you must have better things to do! I've already taken up enough of your time, and we're no closer to finding even a hint of who is after me. This could go on indefinitely, so we're going to need to come up with a new schedule. No one knows I'm in Manhattan yet, so i should be relatively safe on that alone. And I'll have these guys with me. You're all going right?"

They all nodded, and I knew she had a point. Not about us having anything better to do, but about needing to come up with a potentially longer term solution to the problem.

"We really don't have anything better to do. We're on vacation right now. Unless there's some kind of alien invasion or something of the like, so keep your fingers crossed that doesn't happen," Tony said.

"Really? Tony Stark, you have nothing better to do than hang out with me?"

"I have things I could do, but I wouldn't say better. Pepper will make me do paperwork and go to meetings before I'm allowed to play in my lab. I mean work. Work in my lab." Pepper gave an exasperated sigh but didn't say anything.

"And you should help her with those things. I mean, the woman runs your company for you, show a little appreciation!"

"Fine," said Tony and I could almost see a pout on his face, "go play with your other friends, but you're wearing Stark Industries Kevlar under whatever else you wear out tomorrow. It's lightweight and moves much easier than vests. You wear the armor or we go with you."

I watched Stephanie play that through in her mind before she finally agreed. When they were getting ready to leave, Ranger passed a uniform off to Steph and Hector passed her a laptop. The Rangemen left, but the others were still sitting around. They could go on for hours, so I just gestured to Stephanie's laptop and said, "come on, let's go get you set up."

Stephanie was surprised, though truth be told, I'd gotten used to it, when we walked back into my apartment and the mess from the old TV had been cleaned up and a new one installed in its place. When she just stared at it, I gently led her away and over to my office. My desk was huge, so I cleaned up some of my sketchbooks and pencils that were spread around it, and told her she could use it whenever she wanted.

While she went to work setting up her email, I walked over to my easel and started sketching. I usually preferred the smaller sketches of my sketchbooks, but this time I wanted something bigger. I closed my eyes and pulled up the scene in my memory and then got to work.

I couldn't tell you how much time had passed when I felt Stephanie wrap her arms around me from behind and press her head against my back. I finished the bit I was working on then put down my pencil and twisted around in her grasp.

"What are you drawing?"

"You'll see soon enough. It'll look like something tomorrow by the time you get back. And you can see it then."

She looked at me and pouted, sticking out her bottom lip, so I leaned down to her and tugged on it with my teeth opening her mouth up for my tongue. I took full advantage and was pleased to hear her sharp intake of breath in reaction. Then she joined in, and I lost myself in her. A few minutes later, I could feel her struggling to get closer so when she wrapped her arms around my neck, I reached down and picked her up. Nothing in my day-to-day life made me more grateful for my super strength than being able to do that so easily.

I knew we were going to have to stop soon, but I was intent on enjoying every minute until then. We continued like that for several minutes and I was feeling almost drugged by her kisses. Then I felt her hands skim down along my arms, lingering a little on my biceps before snaking around and into my back pockets. She squeezed me and pulled me into her while rocking her hips and I almost lost all control of the situation on the spot. Almost. Still, I tortured myself and her by letting her rock her hips against me a couple more times before I eased off the kiss and gently set her back on the ground. I looked down at her, satisfied to see her eyes just as dazed as mine probably were and to see her lips swollen. When she darted her tongue out and licked her lips, I stifled a groan and looked away for a second. Waiting was my idea, but what sweet torture it was going to be.

"That was some goodnight kiss," she said, still sounding a bit dazed.

"That mean you're going to bed now?"

"Yeah, I think that'd be best. Early morning tomorrow, and all that. Gotta have enough energy for my workout as well as being dragged around Manhattan to play Goldilocks with Rangman."

I nodded my head in agreement then dropped a quick, chaste kiss on her lips. "Good night. Sleep well. I'm going to stay in here and work on this a little more," I said with a gesture to the easel behind me.

Steph smiled up at me and wished me a good night of her own before leaving the office. I went back to my work, and about an hour later, I heard the door open behind me unsurprised when I turned around to see Sam.

Sam walked up next to me and studied the sketch I was working on with a nod. "So, this all is happening quickly."

"Sure it is, but nothing's ever felt more right."

"I can tell; it's impossible to miss in both of you. Still, I took some time on my flight today to do a background check on her."

"I assume the others, except for Thor and Bruce did the same. I don't want to see it or hear about it."

"I know you don't, so I'm just going to say I approve. I think she's good for you and she'll be able to handle everything life with you would throw at her. You know, if your sorry ass can keep from losing her."

"Oh, is that how it is?"

He grinned at me, "oh, that's how it is. I know you're not as innocent as you play, but I also suspect you haven't been in a real, modern relationship yet, so you come to me if you have any questions. For now I'm just going to offer you one piece of advice."

I nodded my head, listening. He gestured toward my drawing which was starting to come together quite nicely. "Don't show her that and save it for a present down the road."

"I already told her she could see it tomorrow."

"So replace it with something else and finish this one when she's not around. Trust me, that'll be such a good surprise down the road, she won't hold it against you."

I thought about that for a minute. I really didn't like doing anything other than telling the truth, but surprises were nice too. I worked in a spy agency with some of the best spies in the world, surely I could find a version of the truth to show her and keep this a surprise. Because Sam was right, this would make a good present down the road a ways. I looked over at him and nodded, "good idea, thanks man."

* * *

**A/N:** Well, there you go, another chapter. Let me know what you thought. And because it has been asked, yes, this story is rated M for a reason and we'll be working our way to some smut. While I really don't think Steve is all that innocent, I also think he's a gentleman, especially since he feels something special for Steph, so they're going to wait a bit.

How'd you find the paintball? I got a little inspiration from the beginning of Season 4 Episode 3 of _Rookie Blue_. I've got at least one more paintball scenario, a much larger one, on my mind for later.

Next chapter is going to pick up the following morning, but there might be a little bit of a time jump partway through. Sound okay to you?

Last thought for here, sorry this is such a long note, but I enjoy my long reviews and PM conversations with you all when I can get them, so I'm hoping to sprout a few this time. I know what Steve's sketching… what do you think it is?


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: **The characters and things you recognize in this story don't belong to me. They belong to Marvel and Janet Evanovich. I'm pretty sure you'll recognize which is which. Mistakes belong to me.

* * *

Chapter 9

_**Steph's POV**_

I woke up the next morning instantly reaching for my gun on my bedside table even as my brain caught up with my instincts and ratcheted the threat level right back down to zero. I could smell coffee and felt a warm, callused finger stroking down my cheek. "Just me," came Steve's voice in a soothing tone. And I couldn't help but notice that he hadn't even made a move to stop me from getting to my gun. I didn't know if that should bother me or not, but I decided it meant he trusted me not to accidentally shoot him, so I let it go.

Oh god, Steve was in my room waking me up. I always looked like a disaster in the mornings! I'd really rather he didn't see me until I'd been able to at least do something with my hair!

"You look beautiful in the morning."

I tried to think of a snappy comeback, but I definitely wasn't firing on all cylinders yet. Right, the coffee smell. I stuck my hand out expectantly and Steve chuckled then handed me the mug. He dropped a kiss on my cheek before releasing it from his grasp. I took a big gulp and then eyed him suspiciously. "Are you for real or do you want something?"

"Just want to make sure you wake up in a good mood. That's all."

He'd never given me any reason to think he was anything other than sweet and sincere, and I'd heard that men like this existed, so I guess I was just lucky enough to find one. I downed the rest of my coffee and said, "Thanks!" Before bounding off into the bathroom, grateful when I heard my bedroom door shut behind him.

When I came back out of my room, dressed for the gym, Sam and Steve were both waiting. I walked up to Steve and gave him a kiss, on the lips this time, as he handed me another cup of coffee and a muffin. I beamed up at him and said, "thanks" again then sat down at the breakfast bar next to Sam.

"Sam, are you coming with us down to the gym?"

"Yep, gotta do what I can to try to keep up with the big guy over there. Or at least not get completely left in the dust by him."

I nodded, at that before quickly finishing my coffee and my muffin. I went back into my room to grab my weapons and we headed out. The rest of the morning passed much like yesterday had. I ran with Clint on the treadmills, which I was beginning to enjoy as our little ritual, though not bothered when Sam joined in. The warmup was finished by working with Natasha and then, true to his comment yesterday, Steve had me work a little with some free weights before I went to the shooting range. My arms were sore from the weights, so I pouted when I didn't make it to the full hour. I'd made it to the half hour mark, so I got to work with the bow some, but I just couldn't do it anymore with my gun about 45 minutes in. No paintball today, rats. Clint sensed my disappointment and cheerfully told me that it wouldn't be as much fun if we got to do it every day anyway. I wasn't so sure about that, there were plenty of things that were fun to do every day, but I didn't complain. Too much.

Before I could head upstairs to change into my Rangeman uniform, Tony popped up with his Stark Industries body armor for me to wear. I was pleasantly surprised that it did seem as though it would be much easier to move in and less stuffy, so I accepted it with thanks instead of complaints. He gruffly told me it was a prototype and to be careful with it, but I was on to him. I was pretty sure he is secretly sweet and just pretends to be a jerk a lot of the time, so I played along asking him if it worked. He just ran mussed his hand over my hair and said, "fully tested, so don't you worry about testing out." I quickly went upstairs and showered and got ready for the day. At least with this new kevlar, I didn't look too bulky when I put my uniform shirt over it. Though it did smash down my chest even more than a sports bra. I guess a girl can't have everything she wants, can she?

I was surprised when I walked back out of my room to see a bunch of men in black in the living room. I had expected to meet them downstairs, not to have Steve invite them into his apartment. I got the impression that Steve really didn't have people over all that much, other than Sam, and that was more of a "you're my partner so I guess you can stay here" kind of thing. The surprise must have showed in my eyes because Steve just said, "you're staying here so of course they're welcome."

Probably they aren't good enough to break into Avengers Tower, so it's nice that they were invited.

Ranger chuckled quietly to himself and said, "please don't make challenges like that to these guys. I really think it is best that they don't even try."

Whoops. I shrugged and then gave Steve another thanks. He was too good to me, I was really going to need to come up with some nice things to start doing for him. As I strapped on my weapon, Ranger handed me a piece of paper. I looked it over and asked, "legit?"

He nodded, "the lawyers only finished getting it settled a few weeks ago and were still getting all their copies and double checking that everything was in order. They also had to get a second certified copy, that one, for you. We have backup copies on file at the satellite office and at our hotel. You might want to carry that one on you though. We've all got ours in our belts, just in case."

I walked over and showed the paper to Steve; it was a permit to carry not just in New York state, but in The City as well. I knew those were extremely hard to come by, and I once again mentally thanked whoever was in charge upstairs for Ranger's connections. I had no doubt he'd pulled a few strings to get this taken care of for me.

"That right there is going to be the most difficult part of opening up a Manhattan office," Tank said with a nod to the papers in my hand, "especially since we only do legit papers these days."

"You all good for today?"

Tank nodded. "We started floating the idea of NYC a while ago and got this group's paperwork as well as a few others in Trenton who we knew we might need on the start-up done then. And we do have a satellite office here that we've mostly been able to hire-in people like retired law enforcement who already had permits."

"I've still got some SHIELD connections here, and Tony has those and more. If you get too stuck, you'll let us know," added Steve.

Tank grunted his appreciation and Ranger nodded his then added, "by the way, your bike's in the garage."

"Alright," I said, giving Steve a quick kiss on the cheek then heading toward the door, "where to first?"

As soon as we stepped outside of the tower, I stopped and tensed up a little bit. My spidey sense was buzzing and I felt like someone was watching me. I let the guys know, and they went a little more on alert, but we all agreed it could very well be the paparazzi and we just moved on.

We made it through the first three buildings quickly, since they really weren't a good fit. They were too small, too pricey, and didn't have underground space available. The guys needed somewhere to put their dungeons, I mean, quiet places for reluctant guests to contemplate their situations.

We stopped and had lunch at a restaurant that specialized in twigs and bark before moving on to the rest of the buildings for the afternoon. We'd all been on high alert, but none of us had seen anything yet.

The fourth building was a better fit, and the fifth building improved upon that, even offering a view. It was pricier, but Ranger seemed okay with that, so I guess that was okay. It wasn't in one of the best areas, but it also wasn't a bad area by any means. It was near the subway and being a little removed from the hustle and bustle would hopefully help their response times a little. All in all, it seemed like a pretty good deal, and the men were confident that they could remodel the insides to fit their specifications relatively quickly and cost effectively. Honestly, I wasn't sure why I was here, but they all seemed to be closely watching my reactions to each building, so clearly they wanted to make sure I liked the buildings for some reason.

We left the fifth building and moved on to the sixth and final. It was okay, but not as good as the fourth or the fifth. We stood around with the realtor, then off to the side without her, talking through the pros and cons of each building. A healthy amount of time went by as we discussed the finer points of what exactly they needed versus wanted, and it was decided that they would make their first move on the fifth building, holding the fourth and sixth in reserve for if they couldn't get a deal they were happy with.

We walked out of the building as Ranger was making the last few arrangements with the realtor. I stepped off to the side as I fiddled with my phone, not wanting to be too obviously rude and uninterested. I was reading through all the celebrity news sites I could think of, trying to figure out if the paparazzi had a trail on Steve and I or not. I saw the news stories from the day before yesterday with pictures, but there were none more recent since Steve and I hadn't left the building yesterday. There _was_ however a decent amount of speculation that we were no longer in New Jersey since we hadn't been spotted again, and New York seemed to be the top of the list for most of the reporters as one of the most likely places we would have ended up. Oh brother. I hadn't seen any cameras when we'd left this morning, but that didn't necessarily mean anything with the lenses these cameramen had these days.

I turned and motioned Lester to me with my phone outstretched to show him the article and he had just started toward me when suddenly, my breath was taken from me and I was flying backwards. I felt myself jolt a few times and I had barely hit the ground before I felt Ranger dragging me around the side of the building and a wall of black was in front of me. I did a quick mental self-check: I couldn't seem to breathe and my chest really hurt when I tried, so did my left arm for that matter. Everything seemed to be happening in a weird, almost out of body place. Like I was watching it happen through a pair of binoculars from a distance. Bobby was next to me asking me questions, but his voice was too far away for me to really hear. And I couldn't breathe, so I don't know how he expected me to answer.

No sooner had that thought crossed my mind than Ranger leaned over right in my face, looked me in the eyes and said, "it's in your vest. You're going to be okay, Steph. I need you to look at me and try to calm your breathing down; it will get a bit easier. Are you hit anywhere else? Do you hurt anywhere else?"

"Arm." I gasped out. Ranger shifted me to the side a little and cursed. I looked over to see what he was looking at and was greeted by the site of a lot of blood that I had a sneaking suspicion was mine.

"Damn, Iron Man is going to be pissed. I got holes and blood on his prototype."

I thought I heard Lester mutter something along the lines of "not as pissed as the super soldier is going to be," but truthfully, I wasn't really paying attention. I watched Ranger pull his blood covered hands back to allow Bobby to work on me and I decided that would be a good time to check out. They seemed like they had this under control, so I was just going to take a little nap.

My next conscious thought was that waking up to a steady beeping sound, hushed voices, and someone saying, "oh thank God," was never really a good sign. Usually it meant I'd gotten myself into some sort of trouble. I opened my eyes and when I didn't recognize the room I was in, I slowly pieced everything together. New York, I'm in New York. And hey, there's Steve, he's hot. Shit, Tony's body armor, maybe he'd somehow miss the bullet holes and the blood? Also, I really hope Ranger doesn't wind up buying that last building, I'd be okay with never going back there again.

I noticed that everyone was laughing so I turned an accusing eye on Bobby, "damn it, you gave me drugs didn't you?!"

He held his hands up in surrender, "I did no such thing, the doctor did."

"Yes, I most certainly did," a much too chipper voice said as from the doorway to my room. The doctor paused and looked around. It seemed as though he wanted to say something about the number of people in the room, but quickly got the vibe that they could all end his life in about a second and just continued walking toward me.

"What's the damage, doc?"

"It's not too bad really. You were quite lucky you were wearing body armor. Your ribs are badly bruised, but they're not broken. Or if they are, we can't tell, so it is hairline at most. Those probably hurt the worst, I'd imagine. They'll take a good three weeks at least to recover. You'll need to take it easy during that time. The bullet to your arm didn't hit anything too important, so it will also be sore, but is really just a flesh wound. Your friend there, I believe he introduced himself as 'Ranger' suggested a bandaid, but I've stitched it up for you and I'm told you know how to take care of that." I nodded my head in acknowledgement.

He flashed a light in my eyes and made me follow his finger around. "As I suspected given the goose egg on your head, you have a mild concussion, but nothing I'm too concerned about. I'm told that you will fight me tooth and nail if I try to keep you here, and since I've been reassured you won't be left alone, I think I can comfortably discharge you. Not to mention, your guards are scaring the nurses quite a lot. If you experience worsening headaches, nausea, or difficulty breathing, come back."

I tried to roll my eyes, but groaned when it made my head hurt more. I swear I saw Ranger's lips twitch at that, the sadist.

More laughter surrounded me in that moment, and I knew I'd said that out loud. I shot Ranger an glare, not caring. A fucking bandaid? Seriously? More chuckles surrounded me. Bobby clapped the doctor on the shoulder and said, "maybe we can find something a little milder for her prescription? Not that this isn't fun, but she'll be quite grumpy later when she realizes everything she's said under the influence."

I wisely decided to keep my mouth shut at that. I turned my head and finally locked eyes with Steve for the first time since waking up. He looked so worried that I couldn't help but smile at him and say, "so, how's it going? What've you been up to today? Have a good day?"

He stared at me in momentary disbelief, and I heard Lester rounding everyone up and shoving them unceremoniously out of the room calling out that they'd wait in the hall for the discharge nurse to come by and start working on an exit plan.

Steve watched them all file out and when the door shut behind them, he sat heavily in the chair next to me and laid his head down on my pillow next to my head. He spent a couple minutes just staring at me, as though he was trying to reassure himself that I was there with him. Finally he responded, "Morning was good, afternoon kind of went to hell in a handbasket."

"Yeah?" I shifted ever so slowly so that I could run the fingers of my right hand through his hair, "sorry to hear that. Anything I can do to make it better?"

"Maybe don't get shot again? If you don't mind?"

I pretended to think about it for a minute then said, "well, alright, if you insist. But I'm only doing it for you, you know. It does kind of ruin my plans for the night."

He finally cracked a smile at that. Then he looked down at my bandaged arm then at my chest, and looked back at me. He gently leaned over, making sure not to jostle my arm or my ribs and peppered gentle kisses all over my face.

"I think when I heard that alarm go off, that was the most scared I remember being in my life. I ran upstairs to my apartment, grabbed my shield and my comm unit, then got onto the bike and drove like a bat out of hell trying to get to you. Jarvis was giving me directions, but all the guys could say was that you'd been shot, they thought you were going to be fine, but you'd passed out and they couldn't get you to wake up."

"Sorry about that, it was the blood. I really don't like seeing my blood outside of my body. Especially when it's covering someone's hands. Blood's really more of an inside the body, best not seen, kind of thing."

"Yes it is. You should work on that."

Suddenly I felt all my vulnerability rush back and I whispered, "ready to wipe your hands of this mess and send me back to Trenton yet?"

"Hey, hey. None of that. I'm not sending you anywhere. Except maybe to Tony's lab to get yourself fit for more of that kevlar body armor stuff. In fact, I'm thinking I might just keep you around long term. Are you going to run when I get hurt? Because, trust me, I've banged myself up pretty good too in the past and it will probably happen again. There are plenty of people out there who want to shoot me too. In fact, for all we know, I'm why you got shot!"

"Nope. I won't run when you get hurt, or any time. I'm not planning on running at all, and that's kind of new for me."

There was a quick knock on the door and Bobby stuck his head in. "Ready to get out of here, Steph?"

I quickly agreed and Natasha stepped in with a change of clothes in her arms. She had Steve help get me sitting up and then managed to get him out the door with an, "I got her, Cap. I'll get her dressed and then we can take her home."

Then she gave me an appraising look. "How much does it hurt?"

"Oh, you know, just when I move."

"Okay. Let's be quick then. Smooth but quick. That'll probably be the best way to do this rather than going gently and slowly."

I gritted my teeth and nodded. My left arm was in a sling against my body, so Nat just pulled out a knife and cut the hospital gown off of me. That was certainly one way to do it. I was grateful that she didn't say a word when she saw the extent of my bruises. It was the first time I'd seen them, and I let out a gasp of my own.

"Multiple?" I asked, not having to clarify that I meant bullets to the chest.

Natasha gave a curt nod in response. She'd brought me an oversized button down shirt and helped me slip my good arm through it then deftly buttoned it shut with my left arm in the sling inside of it. The shirt was huge on me, and frankly, I could have walked out of the hospital in just that, but I was pleased when I noticed that she'd brought me a clean pair of underwear and yoga pants as well. She didn't say anything and I tried not to be self conscious as she helped me get into those.

"Sorry, the shirt is so big. It's Cap's. I was just going to grab one of Clint's because he's not quite as much bigger than you and, obviously, that was easiest for me to grab. But Clint didn't think Cap would like that. Some kind of macho male thing." I smiled as I sniffed it and realized it smelled like Steve. "And there's that too," she said with a twinkle in her eye.

"Thanks."

"No problem."

"I mean it. You didn't have to do this. You could have made Bobby do it or gotten a nurse to do it. I just. I appreciate it. And you being here."

"You're welcome. Now let's get your shoes on."

Once she had my shoes on, I was pleasantly surprised when she redid my ponytail and helped me clean myself up a little more- look a bit more presentable. "Alright, I think that's the best we can do."

"Just don't let me see myself in a mirror and we're good."

She opened the door and Steve was standing right outside, looking like he was seconds away from bursting through it. In a flash, he was back by my side. I noticed his eyes darken a little when he saw me in his shirt before he focused back on the task at hand. "Alright, we're going to take you out the back, rather than the front of the building. We don't think anyone is expecting you to be released this quickly since everyone is reporting, correctly I might add, that you were shot multiple times and rushed to the hospital unconscious. We're going to take you downstairs in a wheelchair, but do you think you can walk? Once we get down there, we'll need to ditch the chair. I can carry you out, but you'll probably be more comfortable walking if you can manage it."

"I can handle it, I'll walk. By the way, if you're really taking me back with you, I should warn you: I'm a terrible patient."

_**Steve's POV**_

By the time we got back to Avenger's Tower, I really, really wanted to hit something. It was clear that the process of getting home was excruciating for Stephanie. And there really wasn't anything we could do for her to make it any better. Happy was waiting for us in the parking lot with a wheelchair for Steph. She tried to climb out, but was looking a little shaky so as gently as I could, I reached in and picked her up. It almost broke my heart when I heard her pained hiss at the contact. I got ready to set her in the chair and she just said, "no," so I carefully carried her to the elevator and then to my apartment. As we got closer, I whispered, "couch, recliner, or bed?"

"Bed, no people" she whispered back.

The others started to follow us in to the apartment and I just shook my head. I exchanged glances with Sam, and he redirected everyone back to the elevator saying, "we'll come back and check on her later." Natasha got the paperwork and prescription from Bobby, opened the apartment door for us, slipped in to set down the pills, and then quickly walked back out. I carried Stephanie down the hall, past her bedroom, and into mine. She had a concussion, I reasoned with myself. Can't be left alone.

I gently set her down in the middle of the bed, and when I went to leave, she said, "no" again.

"Steph, I don't want to hurt you."

"I'm already hurt and you won't make it any worse. I just need you to hold me for a little while."

So I grabbed the blanket off the foot of the bed, toed off my shoes, and slid in behind her. She had gently rolled herself so she was on her good side, and I softly pressed against her, sliding my bottom arm under your neck and feeling her relax back into me. Then I put my other arm around her waist, below her sling so as not to jostle her any and just held on. A couple seconds later I could feel her tears landing on my arm and I just knew she was trying her best not to sob because that would just hurt worse. I let a couple tears slip out from my eyes too as I thought about how close I'd come to losing her.

She finally drifted off to sleep ten minutes later, and I let myself join her for a nap, the adrenaline finally having worn off now that I had her safely home. What was probably an hour later, maybe two, I heard someone enter the apartment. That meant it was one of three people, but I wasn't surprised at all that it was Sam who gently knocked on the door and stuck his head in.

"Hey man, how's she doing?"

"Okay, I guess. Sleeping. I need to wake her up for a concussion check and to try to get her to take some more of those pain pills. She didn't get to that earlier."

He nodded his head in understanding then she shuffled his feet and looked uncharacteristically nervous. "Look, you gotta let those guys see her. She's their friend and they're worried sick about her. And I can tell they're not used to being unable to see her for themselves when she's hurt."

I knew he was right. I'd seen how they'd all repeatedly reassured themselves that she was okay after the explosion the first night and the distraction/Batroc/explosion disaster of a night. I just wasn't ready to let go or to give her up yet.

"It's okay," Stephanie whispered, "he's right you know."

"I know." Then I turned to Sam and said, "give us 10 minutes and then let them in."

"No," there was that word again. Seemed to be her favorite one since we left the hospital. I had a feeling she really was going to be a lousy patient. "Not in here," she whispered. "Just help me get to the other floor, and I'll stay there for a few hours, okay?"

"Steph, you don't need to."

"It's okay, I'll be fine, and we'll all be more comfortable up there."

She was right about that last part, plus I didn't really want them all in my bedroom, so I whispered, "okay" to her before turning back to Sam and saying, "tell them we're on our way up. Just give us 15 minutes or so."

Once he was on his way back upstairs, I gently slid out from behind her and helped her roll back onto her back. I asked her a few basic questions just to make sure that her concussion wasn't worse than we'd start. Then I said, "okay, let's start with some more pain pills."

She nodded her head, and Bobby had warned me that she'd probably be reluctant to take them, so I knew she must be in pretty rough shape. When I came back into the bedroom, I handed her some crackers first, and she grabbed my hand and held it in hers. It felt as though she looked straight into my soul when she said, "thank you. I needed that time with you and the quiet. If everyone had come in, I don't think I could have taken it. That's why I chose the bed, so thank you for understanding that when I couldn't put it into words."

I nodded my understanding then gestured to the crackers. You should try to eat those if you can before you take these pills. Once she had done so and taken the pills, I sat next to her on the bed, holding her hand. After ten or so minutes, I could feel that some of the tension had drained out of it.

"So all a girl has to do to see your room is get shot? If I'd known that, I would have gotten shot sooner."

I growled low in my throat at the thought and Steph just said, "woah, okay, touchy touchy. I guess we're not ready to joke about it yet."

"Not quite yet," I agreed.

She looked around and said, "it's a nice room."

This time when I spoke, my voice was a bit husky, "I'm glad you like it." She shivered, so I looked at her and said, "cold?"

She cleared her throat and said, "not exactly. But what I am won't be able to be taken care of for a while, so let's not focus on it." She gestured toward her ribs as she said it, so I looked down at where my shirt was hiding her injuries from view.

"I know we haven't exactly, but do you mind if I…?" I trailed off gesturing toward her mid-section. She looked at me, then nodded in agreement, so I reached over trembling hands and started unbuttoning her shirt from the bottom. I hadn't gotten very far when I could see the faint tinge of a bruise starting to form. When had it unbuttoned and pulled up as much as I could without seeing any more than she showed at the gym, I took a good look and winced. Almost her entire abdomen was bruised, getting darkest around where it disappeared under her shirt. Clustered more to her left side… by her heart. I leaned down and as gently as I could brushed a kiss across her skin and then whispered a prayer of thanks for body armor. I buttoned her back in and then loosened an extra couple of buttons at the top so that I could peek in at her injured arm. There really wasn't much to see there, since it was wrapped in gauze.

"The doctor said we could take you out of the sling once you got home if you were feeling up to it. Do you want to do that now, or later?"

"Let's get it over with now. I think I'll be more comfortable in the long run without it." I nodded my head in agreement because it would be hell to get off and get her arm through the shirt sleeve if she wanted, but I did think it would be better for her.

"Do you want me to get Tasha to help? I uh, might not be able to keep you covered. Not that I'd be looking, but I might accidentally see…"

"It's fine." she laughed, then with a wink added, "you can even look if you want. Though, from what I can feel, I don't think they're in the best shape right now."

I knew I was just making the situation more awkward than it needed to be, so I just helped her sit up all the way without saying anything else. "Are you going to want your arm through the shirt?"

She nodded her head shyly, and said, "come on Steve, it's not _that_ big of a deal. We've got to get upstairs, just do it before someone else comes to check on us."

I took a deep breath, then unbuttoned the shirt again, all the way this time, and slid it off of her left side completely. I gently loosened the velcro on the sling's strap so that it came all the way free before pulling it away from her completely, freeing her to test out bending and flexing her elbow. Thankfully, it didn't seem to cause her any more discomfort to do so, as long as she held her upper arm steady. Without consciously being aware of it, my gaze slid sideways and I caught my first look at her partially bared chest. It would have been a great occasion if not for how battered her flesh was.

"That looks painful." I said, before I could really help myself.

She looked down and winced then tried to shield herself with her good hand. "Like I said, not looking their best."

I gently moved her hand out of the way and leaned in to press a kiss on the slightly less bruised outside surface of it. Then I looked up and locked my eyes with her as I said, "still beautiful. Maybe more so because it just makes me so glad that you're alive."

I watched her eyes well up with tears, so I cupped her face in my hands and gave her a slow, sweet kiss. Then I straightened back up and assessed the situation. "Alright, in for a penny, in for a pound. Now that we're already half way there anyway, this'll be easier if we take the shirt all the way off then thread it over your injured arm before putting your good arm through."

"You're probably right," Steph replied and shrugged the rest of the way out of the shirt.

My gaze was drawn to her other side, which was in much better shape, though still had a bruise creeping up the inside of it. Not wanting it to feel left out, I gave it a kiss too and murmured "beautiful" before getting back to the matter at hand. A painful minute later, we had Stephanie back in the shirt proper and I was buttoning her back into it.

"Okay, anything else before we go to the others?"

"I need to use the bathroom, and I'm going in there solo." I blushed but nodded my head. "I'll call for you if for some reason I need something and you can go get Tasha and send her in."

With my assistance, Stephanie tenderly got herself out of the bed and hobbled over to the bathroom, shutting the door firmly behind her. I heard a yelp and yelled through the door, "are you okay?" laughing when I heard her respond that she was fine but she was in love with my bathroom.

I let out a sigh of relief when I heard the toilet flushed and the water turn on. When she opened the door I was by her side and asked how she wanted to get upstairs. "I'll walk."

As soon as we walked in the door to the common area, Lester exclaimed, "finally!" and the guys all rushed her. They seemed to have grown in number. I quickly stepped in front of her when they approached and said, "stop!" With looks of disbelief on their faces, they reluctantly obeyed, though Lester was at it again, "what the hell man, you've had her down there alone for two hours now! You can let us see her!"

Stephanie continued walking and I quickly went to her side. "That's not the problem, you ass," Stephanie said with a surprising amount of rebuke. "I need to sit." I helped her make her way to the couch and settle herself on to it.

When I turned around and saw the looks of mutiny on their faces, I just raised an eyebrow and said, "do we have a problem?"

This time Hector, who looked like a pretty scary dude, starting ranting at me in Spanish. My Spanish wasn't great but I got the point. They were upset because I hadn't let them stay with Stephanie when she was hurt.

"Guys!" Stephanie yelled from the couch, "don't you give him a hard time, he was just doing what I asked him to do. I needed some quiet time by myself to think and to relax before you all started your bit. Sometimes you're overwhelming."

"Steph," said Bobby, "you could have told us you needed space. We would have understood."

"No you wouldn't. You would have promised to be quiet and then all just sat there staring at me. For about five minutes. Then you would have started tossing theories around and dissecting everything that happened!"

They looked like they wanted to argue, but realized she was right. "So, why did _he_ get to stay?" Looked like Lester wasn't done arguing.

"Because I asked him to. Because he makes me feel comfortable and at ease. He creates a quiet calm for me."

Lester crossed his arms at this, quite like a small child.

Stephanie looked around the room expectantly. "Well, I'm here now, and I'm sitting," she said.

Just like that all the tension in the room eased a bit. I watched as the first couple came over and made sure they treated her carefully before walking over to my teammates.

"Thank you for finally showing up," Tony said. "I thought they were going to start tearing the tower apart looking for her. I think they might be a wee bit over protective of her."

"And this surprises you after the whole tracker conversation?" I asked.

"A little, yeah. You weren't here; it was frighteningly intense! And you said you'd be here in an hour. It's been nearly two and a half!"

I shrugged, "she fell asleep and I didn't want to disturb her. Then it took a while to get her ready to move again."

At this Natasha looked pointedly at Stephanie, "you know you can call Pepper or I if she needs help."

"Yes, and we may well be taking you up on that the next couple of weeks, but we were fine."

We watched as the Rangmen fussed over her for pretty much an hour straight and then started trying to dissect what had happened- exactly like she'd predicted they would do. She had Lester on one side and Ranger on the other. Two more were squatting on the ground in front of her, and another two were hanging over the back of the couch next to her. The rest were circled around them all.

I just shook my head as I observed and said, "this isn't what she needed. I'm not sorry that I kept her up there for so long."

The others murmured their agreement around me. After this went on for a little while longer she just said, "okay guys, I'm fine. Or I'm going to be fine. Can you try to ease up a little?"

So they did, just barely. Then Lester said, "so, how're we going to get you back to Trenton?"

I tensed up and Steph did a double take, "what?"

"Doctor said you need to rest for at least three weeks, so we'll take you back to Trenton, move someone into a hotel for a few weeks so you can have your own apartment and we'll take care of you."

"Guys, I'm staying here." I relaxed a little at that before they started arguing. I started to walk over and intervene, but Natasha just pulled me back and shook her head.

Pepper had walked in in the middle of this argument and when Lester said, "but what if they get called away on a mission or whatever? Then who will help you?"

Without taking a second to think about it, Pepper interrupted and said, "I will."

Stephanie shot her a look of gratitude and mouthed, 'thanks" in her direction. Then she said to the men, "Guys I love you really, but you're exhausting. I'm staying here for the time being and that's that. You can come visit as long as you call first. I have the laptop upstairs, so I can Skype anyone who gets stuck in Trenton. I can also run some searches as you need them."

"You will do no such thing, Babe," commanded Ranger.

"What?"

"You were injured working for Rangeman. You'll have pay and a half while you're recuperating until Bobby clears you to start working again and you won't do one minute of work, not even answer a work-related email, until has done so. You get anyone to help you sneak in some work and _he's_ fired. Got it? Please?"

I had a feeling that was a more effective threat than saying Stephanie would be fired.

"But what am I going to _do_?"

"You'll figure something out. Aren't you always talking about how you wish you had more time to watch tv and read? Now you've got at least three weeks worth of it."

Stephanie grumbled a bit, but nodded that she understood. "Say it."

"I promise I won't do any work until Bobby clears me." Stephanie said with a pout before adding, "but I don't promise to be happy about it!"

"That's fine. Alright gang, let's head out for the night."

They all took turns giving her a kiss on the cheek and left the building. Once they were gone, the team all walked over to the couch. I sat on one side of her, and Tony pulled over a foot rest and sat right in front of her.

She took one look at him and broke out in what had to be painful sobbing tears. I don't think any of us were expecting that, least of all Tony because he looked shocked until Pepper sat on her other side and soothed her until she managed to stop crying.

"I'm so sorry, Tony." Steph gasped out, "I think I broke your prototype.

"Seriously? That's what the water works is about? Hey, hey, look at me," he paused until she complied. "I'm so glad you were wearing that armor. That many bullets, from that high powered of a gun, clustered so close together would have torn through regular Kevlar and into your heart. Then we wouldn't have been able to have this conversation about how stupid you are if you think I care about that vest more than you!"

Her eyes bugged out so much it would have been comical if the topic wasn't so damn serious. She turned her wide eyes at me and said, "is that true?"

I grimaced and nodded while Clint and Natasha both said, "absolutely, yes."

She gestured Tony closer and closer then threw her arms around him in a hug and whispered "thank you" over and over again. Surprisingly he just held on and soothed her until she stopped freaking out, then whispered back a "you're welcome"

The first week off taking care of Stephanie after the shooting passed fairly easily all things considered. It was the worst in terms of pain levels for Stephanie, which was difficult to see, but she wasn't too bad of a patient as she had called it. All she really felt up to doing was taking pain pills, sleeping, and "watching TV" or "reading" which usually turned into sleeping as well.

Once she started feeling a little bit better though, she became a bit of a handful. She still couldn't do much, but she absolutely _hated_ being cooped up. And she made her displeasure known to all of us. If I didn't know how important it was that she actually rest, I probably would have called Ranger up begging him to let her do some work from the computer.

Despite the moments of frustration, we'd gotten to know each other a lot better and gotten much closer during that time. She stayed with me in my bedroom at night for the first week and a half since she really couldn't get up in the middle of the night without assistance. Each morning, Natasha or Pepper would come down and help Stephanie bathe, get dressed, manage her hair, and do anything else she'd rather I not assist her with. Once she started being able to move around more on her own, she insisted on moving back to her room. It really was for the best though as we were both starting to be tempted and she was in no way physically able to rise to temptation, even if I thought we were just about there emotionally.

She'd managed to have a few Skype calls with the Rangemen, but they'd been short and more than a little tense since she refused to go back with them, pouting like children who didn't want to share their favorite toy. Ranger, Tank, Lester, Bobby, and Hector had stopped by briefly a few times to see how Steph was doing, but hadn't socialized very much. I knew they were busy after their offer got accepted on the new office, but I could tell that Stephanie was a little hurt and feeling hurt at not having contact with her close friends.

The other Avengers, along with Sam and Pepper, had been instrumental in helping me keep Stephanie occupied and relatively happy. She'd gotten to know each of them more as they stopped by regularly to chat with her, show her things they were working on, exchange stories, etc.

As we approached the three-week mark, two very important things were coming. First, she had a follow-up appointment with a doctor. Pepper had convinced her to see her Primary Care doctor, who as it turned out, made house calls, a couple times throughout the healing process to make sure everything was on track. Stephanie had given consent for the doctor to discuss her injuries with us, so we had a pretty good clue that Friday afternoon at her appointment, Stephanie was likely going to be released for mild to moderate physical activity as she could handle it. No matter how stir-crazy she felt, the rest that we'd pretty much forced upon her had helped her heal quickly.

The second thing was that it was Stephanie Plum's birthday. She'd made no mention of the fact and we suspected that she somehow thought we didn't know. So anytime we could get a few minutes together without Stephanie, we devised a plan. I coordinated with Ranger to handle things on the Trenton end, and worked primarily with Pepper and Natasha on my end. Though the others, especially Sam, had plenty of insight to offer me.

Friday morning, I awoke extra early and made sure Sam was awake in case Stephanie needed anything before I got back. Then I set about completing my to-do list as quickly and efficiently as I could manage. In a couple of locations, some crowds of fans gathered, so I politely smiled and waved, signed autographs or took pictures if I couldn't avoid it, and moved along my way.

When I walked outside the florist though, waiting in the crowd was the sweetest little girl with big blue eyes and curly brown hair. She looked almost like a mini-Steph, so I just had to crouch down and say hi. I was juggling the red roses I had just purchased as well as an over-sized bakery box. As soon as I got down to eye level with her, her eyes got huge and I said, "hi there, I'm Steve, how are you today?"

Her eyes got even wider and she stared at me with panic on her face. Her mom patted her on the back and told her it was okay, so she turned back to me and said, "Hi, I'm Lacey" with a shy smile which I returned. Then she looked at the flowers I was carrying and said, "what are you doing with those?"

"It's someone very important to me's birthday this weekend, so I'm bringing her these to surprise her when she wakes up. She's had a rough few weeks. Do you think she'll like these? Do you think they'll make her smile?"

I held them out to her to inspect, which she did, then she gave her nod of approval and said, "they're pretty, I think she'll love them."

"Good!" I said. "You know what, you remind me a lot of her, and I think she'd like it if you got one of these to brighten up your day to." So saying, I gently pulled one of the roses out of the oversized bouquet and handed it to the little girl. When she giggled with delight I said, "Well, I have to be heading out soon. I have her favorite breakfast here, but now I need to pick up some coffee before I get back. Is there anything else you think I should get her?"

"Maybe a card with a pretty picture on it?"

"Hmmm, you know, I don't have a card today, but her birthday isn't until Sunday. Do you think if I gave her a picture I drew today and a card on Sunday that would work?"

She thought about it for a minute before nodding her head. "That would be okay."

I smiled at her and said, "thanks so much for your help, Lacey! You enjoy that flower and have a wonderful day, okay?"

She smiled at me and waved as I walked off, eager to go about the last of my chores and get back to Stephanie before she awoke.

When I got back to the apartment, Sam let me know that he hadn't heard a peep from Stephanie's room, and then he went upstairs to the common area to make himself scarce. I dropped the box of doughnuts off in the kitchen putting one on a plate for her. Then I took the plate, flowers and coffee into her bedroom with me. I snuck in quietly and set everything on her bedside table. I took one of the flowers out and then I laid down on the bed facing her and butterflied soft kisses along her face until I felt her wake up. I leaned in and gave her a real kiss then waited for her brain to kick into gear. She opened her eyes and saw me and the flower and said, "what's all this?"

"Happy birthday weekend!"

A huge smile broke out on her face, one that I hadn't seen in a while and she said, "how'd you know?"

"I have my ways," I replied before reaching back and putting the flower in the bigger bouquet and bringing the coffee over to her. I watched her happily drink it then clap her hands with delight when she saw the doughnut. She hummed happily as she ate it and finished her coffee.

"I wish it was my birthday every weekend!"

"That'd be nice, wouldn't it. But come on, go get ready, I have a surprise for you and then there are more of those doughnuts in the kitchen that I thought we could take upstairs to share."

I don't know if it was the idea of a surprise or more doughnuts, but either way, she got moving, so I went out to the living room to wait for her. She was out just 5 minutes later, probably the fastest I'd seen from her, and her eyes were sparkling and there was laughter in her voice and she said, "gimme!"

I chuckled then grabbed her hand and pulled her toward the art studio, putting her directly in front of me as I opened the door so she'd have an unimpeded view of the easel. Sitting on the easel was the finished drawing that I'd started the first night I'd brought her into the studio. I'd sketched it then filled it in with colored pencils. It was of her and I, locked in a kiss on my motorcycle with my shield on her back and the ocean behind us. She gasped and then walked toward it, reaching her hand out and then pulling it back as though afraid it would burn up at her touch. "It's okay," I reassured her. She carefully ran her fingers over it for a few second and when she finally turned to look at me, I could see tears running down her face. Then she launched herself at me and I caught her as gently as possible, allowing her to drag me into a passionate kiss and plaster herself against me.

I slowly eased her away after a couple of minutes and I said, "hey now, none of that until the doctor clears you for that kind of excitement! Did you hurt yourself?"

She rolled her eyes at me but quickly broke back into a smile, "I love it, it's beautiful. Thank you. That may be the best birthday present I've ever gotten!"

I let out a little sigh of relief, "I'm glad. I was worried that it would remind you too much of the whole paparazzi thing and bring up bad memories."

She pulled me down for another kiss then said, "I love it. That was our first date, and it was perfect. I wouldn't take it back, even if the paparazzi did find us and it set off that whole chain of events."

We walked back out to the kitchen, my arm around her waist, and I grabbed the doughnuts, letting Stephanie sneak another out of the box first and we headed to the main floor.

As soon as we walked inside, Pepper squealed, "Happy Birthday weekend, Steph! You have to come see this right this second!"

We walked into the living room portion of the floor, and saw everyone gathered around looking at the TV which they had paused. As soon as I recognized the florist from earlier, I put my head in my hands and groaned.

Natasha chuckled and said, "yep!"

Steph turned at me questioningly, but I figured there was no reason to delay the inevitable, so I just ushered her the rest of the way in and settled her down on the couch. We passed around the box of doughnuts and everyone grabbed one, then Stephanie said, "what are we watching?"

"You'll see!" Pepper replied with obvious glee. "Jarvis, play from the beginning of the segment."

It was the Today show and they started out the segment with pictures of Stephanie and I from the beach on our first date. "Captain America and his girlfriend, believed to be Bounty Hunter and Security Expert Stephanie Plum, haven't been seen in public since reports that she was shot multiple times almost three weeks ago. Many believe, however, that they are still romantically involved and possibly living together, after Captain Rogers was seen out and about this morning. Miss Plum's birthday, of course, is this Sunday."

"Of course," Stephanie mumbled under her breath in a somewhat mocking tone.

I winced then said, "I'm sorry," in a conciliatory tone.

She just patted my knee and said, "don't be."

The story continued by detailing how I'd first been spotted at the bakery placing a large order and leaving with a bakery box in my hands. Then I'd gone into the florist and come out with a giant bouquet of roses before finally stopping in the coffee shop. I was surprised to see that they had pictures of me at pretty much every step of the way. At least I was smiling in all of them, but still!

"But what is causing the biggest stir in this story, is Captain Roger's exchange with a tiny fan outside of the florist shop," the reporter continued.

I watched as an unbelievably clear video, including the audio, played of my conversation with Lacey. They followed the video up with a split screen showing the resemblance between Lacey and Stephanie. Then my jaw just dropped in disbelief as they switched back to the studio and none other than Lacey was on the screen smiling at the camera and talking about our visit. She finished the segment by saying, "I just hope she knows how lucky she is! He's dreamy!" to which the reporter agreed before sending them off to a commercial break.

I had my head in my hands and and groaned out, "tell me that wasn't seriously real?"

"Yep!" Tony agreed in a much too chipper voice, "all the other stations are showing a similar story, we just picked this one because it has Lacey's interview in it!"

I groaned and I heard Stephanie giggle. I glared and her and she burst out laughing. "I'm sorry, but that was absolutely adorable!"

"I'm a Super Soldier, I'm not adorable!"

She pressed a light kiss on my lips and said, "actually you're both!"

Then Pepper demanded to see the drawing, and Stephanie led the way upstairs with just a little more bounce in her step than she'd had on the way down.

Sam walked next to me and just said, "well, it may have been on accident, but that little scene certainly cheered her up even more."

I nodded in agreement. And since that was the plan for the day, I guess I couldn't regret it.

* * *

**A/N:** Thoughts? Don't worry, I think Steph's birthday will go a long way toward repairing things with the Merry Men once they make their appearances!


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: **The characters and things you recognize in this story don't belong to me. They belong to Marvel and Janet Evanovich. I'm pretty sure you'll recognize which is which. Mistakes belong to me.

**A/N:** This is your one warning, this chapter contains smut. For any chapters from here on out, smut will be fair game.

* * *

Chapter 10

_**Steph's POV**_

After the morning I'd had, I just wanted to pinch myself. How could I have a guy this good? It had been almost a month and he showed no signs of being thrown off by my crazy job, disaster prone nature, or horrible mother. Granted, he hadn't met Grandma Mazur yet, but I felt it was safe to hope. In fact, he'd spent the last three weeks dealing with a cranky, mostly bedridden (and PMSing for one of those weeks) me, and he still hadn't flinched.

When he'd woken me up this morning, he'd said "birthday weekend," and I was curious if there was more. I would be satisfied with just this morning if there wasn't, but I had a feeling… At any rate, I knew it would have to wait until after this doctors appointment. The one that seemed to be getting no closer, in fact I'm pretty sure no time had passed since I looked at the clock the last time, but that couldn't be right because it had to have been at least an hour! I pulled out my phone to double check and rats! The clock was right. Ugh. Two more hours. I was really hoping the doc was going to clear me for desk work at least.

All right, I'll be honest. I was hoping the doctor would clear me for some extra curricular activities with Steve. I had been all for taking our time before I almost died, but I wasn't really a fan of the absolutely glacial pace that my injuries had forced upon us. I'd managed to steal a few kisses, occasionally pushing them into pretty deep territory if I caught Steve off guard. But that was just two or three times, including this morning. Honestly though, I felt fine as long as I didn't twist or move in a wrong way, and even then it went away as soon as I stopped. I knew I was ready and if I was reading Steve right, so was he. If not... I was bound to catch him off guard if I did get cleared because I was planning to jump him at least a little bit. What can I say? The man is as sweet as sugar and an absolute specimen to look at. I looked down as I wiped the drool off my chin, making sure it hadn't made its way to my shirt.

Speaking of Steve, I kind of wondered where he went. We'd had everyone up to his apartment and I'd shown off the sketch while Steve blushed in the background. Then we'd watched some TV together, avoiding the news stations, for a couple hours before he'd made me a simple lunch. When I relaxed, okay fell asleep, he'd wandered and once I woke up I got bored. Sam wasn't around either.

Just then, the door opened and in breezed Pepper with Natasha holding the door open for her. They were followed by several people who were carrying a lot of supplies with them. "We figured you might be having a difficult time waiting for the doctors appointment to get here, so we figured we'd have some spa time to kick off the birthday weekend. Although I suppose Steve really kicked it off this morning. How sweet is he?!" Gushed Pepper, hardly taking a breath throughout the whole explanation.

I stared at her a few beats just trying to process everything she'd said, and then went with a simple, "spa sounds great, thanks" in response.

Natasha's eyes lit up in what I was beginning to recognize was her mischievous face, and she added, "Alisha here is great at waxing. Anything and everything you might want waxed. You know, just in case you're thinking something might get used that hasn't been used in a while. You have to promise not to flinch and hurt yourself though!"

I blushed and nodded as Pepper reached over and smacked Natasha with a muttered "real subtle."

Natasha just laughed and said, "did I give the impression at any point in this process that I wanted to be subtle? From the day we met Steph? If I did, I'm sorry for misleading you! I'm just watching out for Cap, and Steph here too by now."

I let them bicker back and forth as I discussed various possible treatments with the different attendants. I _did_ start with a wax before moving on to a hair trim and various curl-taming treatments. While those were setting, I went ahead and got myself a mani and pedi. I finished up with getting my makeup done, and the makeup artist already knew what she was going to do, she didn't even ask for instructions. I was feeling very relaxed and girly by the end of the spa day, so I thanked Pepper and Natasha profusely. They told me they were happy to do it and suggested making it a standing appointment, to which I readily agreed. As she made her way out, Natasha told me the doctor was on her way up, and there was a surprise for me in the closet after my appointment.

Thankfully the appointment went as well as possible. She didn't want me in the field or on Steve's bike for at least another three weeks, but I was cleared to begin easing back into training. I just had to listen to my body when it told me to stop. Similarly I was cleared to any extracurricular activities I wanted, as long as I stopped if they hurt. I was pretty sure that wouldn't be a problem.

Once I had shown the doctor out of the building, I went back up to my room and opened my closet. Inside was an absolutely gorgeous sapphire sundress with matching shoes and accessories. I could tell just looking at it that it was going to fit my body like a dream and I knew it would go well with my coloring and set off my eyes. I picked it up and gasped at what I saw on the hanger under it. There was a gorgeous set of underwear in a darker navy blue.

The bra had a silver star in the center of the chest with lines radiating out across the chest. The panties were just matching navy lace, for as little material as there was. The set was clearly a nod to the most recent version of Steve's uniform. There as a note pinned to them that simply had a winking smiley face that was signed "N & C". I gulped just looking at them; wearing them would, in a way, brand me as his. If he saw them, which he probably would. Honestly, I couldn't wait.

I slid into them, checking myself out in the mirror. And I grinned. Despite three weeks of bed rest, I was still rocking them. On top of them I slipped on the sundress loving how I felt and looked in it. My phone buzzed across the room and I saw a text from Steve saying that Happy was waiting for me in the common floor, so I slipped on my new shoes, tucked my gun in my purse, and grabbed a cream leather jacket to go over it.

When I got up to where Happy was waiting for me, I was surprised that no one else was around. He was standing there with a glass of champagne and asked "good news, Miss Plum?" I nodded and he handed me the glass of champagne and then made a quick call on his phone. After he hung up, he escorted me up onto the roof and hustled me on to a Stark Industries helicopter, shielding me with his body the whole time. He was so friendly and approachable that I always forgot he was Head of Security for Stark Industries.

I found myself alone in the helicopter with another glass of chilled champagne sitting there, so I helped myself. Thank goodness I wasn't taking prescription pain meds anymore! It seemed like hardly any time had passed when we began making our descent and I immediately recognized where we were! We were landing on the lawn of the house at Point Pleasant! As he touched down; the pilot called back, "please wait for them to come get you". So I folded my hands and waited.

When the door opened, I was a little surprised but thoroughly pleased to see Hector peek his head in. I called his name and launched myself at him and got a startled "Angelita" in return. I was quickly shuffled inside by a sea of black, but as soon as we made it all the way in with the door completely shut I was swept off my feet and passed around to each of the Merry Men. By the time I was set down on my feet, I was crying like a baby and immensely grateful for waterproof makeup. There was immediate silence as the guys realized I was crying and I blurted out, "I just missed you _so much_!" I was kind of surprised to have that met with applause and another round of Pass-the-Stephanie, but as each man told me how much he'd missed me, I understood. I'd needed the time, but it had been tough on each of us.

After I made my second round, we all settled in to tell stories and get reacquainted. Well, I didn't have any new stories to tell, since I'd just lived through what felt like the most boring three weeks on the history of earth, but they had plenty to tell me.

"That reminds me, Ranger. I'm cleared for desk work and light training!" I called across the room.

He smiled then called back "Trenton or Manhattan?"

I bit my lip and looked around the room guiltily before saying "Manhattan" a little less enthusiastically. To my surprise that was greeted by cheers from somewhere around half to two thirds of the room. When Tank barked out, "all those reporting for a three month rotation or permanent stationing at Rangeman Manhattan first thing Monday morning?" This was greeted with a loud "we love you Bomber!" from those who had cheered before.

"All those holding up the fort and breaking in the new crew at Rangeman Trenton for the time being?"

"We love you too! Visit soon!"

Just like that, I felt a weight lifted off my shoulders, so I laughed in delight. Things were going to be alright with the men again. There was a bit of a commotion as motion was detected outside of the house before it was deemed not a threat. I had just started to ask "what counts as not a threat" when the front door banged open and I heard a "Skinny Ass White Girl, you better be in here! What's this I hear about you getting shot?! And where the hell have you been for the past month?!"

Then there was a collective shudder as I heard, "Baby girl, you in here? This is where that Ranger told your father and I to come."

I bounded out of my seat and ran into the foyer, immediately grabbing Grandma and my father into hugs with tears streaming down my cheeks again. Then I turned and did the same with Mary Lou, Lula, and Connie. I heard Lester call out, "Ten bucks says she's crying again!" and I turned around and yelled back, "Shove it, Lester!"

Too well orchestrated to have been arranged by anyone other than Steve or Pepper, the Avengers were trailing in behind everyone else and I heard Tony chuckle, "A birthday girl with attitude, I like it!" They were each carrying arms full of Pino's, pizza and meatball subs, and I noticed Steve had a bag and his shield, but no one else seemed to have any additional items. My stomach let out a truly impressive growl and Lula turned to Steve and said, "what, have you been starving her? Here I thought I saw on the news that you bought her doughnuts this morning. Those better not have been for some other woman!"

Steve was staring at her and stammering, and I jumped in, "those were for me! They were delicious, just a long time ago. He even made me lunch too, actually. He feeds me quite well." When she started to snicker and opened her mouth to make a joke, I just pointed at her, fixed on my death glare and said, "No!"

To my utter surprise, she shut her mouth and walked into the living room to greet the others. Everyone else followed her, Ram relieving Steve of his pizza boxes, leaving Steve and I alone in the foyer. He looked me over head to toe and said, "you look stunning" before leaning in to give me a kiss. I tried to turn the heat way up, but he just pulled me as close to his body as he could for one second before setting me back away from him. He cleared his throat and said, "your father is in the other room. We can do more of that later, when he's gone."

"I'm going to hold you to that, Soldier," I said, tossing a wink over my shoulder at him as I strode out of the room. When I noticed his eyes traveling down my body as I did, I gave my hips a little extra wiggle on the way. Needless to say, Steve took a couple minutes by himself in the foyer then dropping his bag and shield in his room before he joined the rest of us. Dinner was noisy as the women I hadn't seen in weeks filled me in on gossip and the happenings around the Burg. In the other room, I could hear various war stories being exchanged.

When I walked into the kitchen to get myself a refill at one point, I turned around and let out a surprised gasp to find that Natasha had silently materialized behind me. "Dress looks nice," she said and I agreed, giving her my thanks. Quicker than I could possibly counter, she cornered me and actually pulled out the front of the dress to look down and make sure I was wearing the underwear too. I smacked her hand away and rolled my eyes as she said, "I've seen it all before and I've got the same equipment myself. I was just making sure you hadn't chickened out or something!"

I left her in the kitchen and walked into the living room to check on my dad, pausing when Steve started some story about World War II and the Howling Commandos. All of the Rangemen went deathly silent. They all turned and gave his story their full attention and the respect it deserved. In that moment, I could tell that some of them had gotten wrapped up in the whole superhero thing and forgotten that he as a soldier, just like a lot of them. He'd led an elite unit, just like many of them had been in, on insanely dangerous missions. Behind enemy lines. When things like the Rangers were just starting to exist and no real procedures were in place yet.

I walked behind Steve and ran a soothing hand across his back when he mentioned Bucky before continuing on to my father and sitting down with him. He tried to dodge around it a bit, but finally let me bring up my mom. He had followed through on his words from that day and kicked her out of the house and filed for divorce. They were locked in the early stages of that process at the moment, and it was not going well as my mom was fighting everything tooth and nail. I reminded him to call me if he needed anything, and he just nodded his head then gruffly asked how I was feeling.

The others listened as I explained that I was actually feeling very good, not having any difficulties moving except for stretching in an odd direction from time to time. I was hoping to add some stretching and such next week to my training, since I knew I couldn't do any fighting, and probably wouldn't be ready for weights yet. From the way some stretches pained me, I figured if I took them slowly, they'd become less and less of a problem. I wasn't sure how the gun range would go either- that might be a week delayed depending on how the kickback felt. Conversation quickly turned to my training, with the Merry Men wondering if I would start training with them some too again. I did have a preference for working on my fighting with Natasha, and they understood when I expressed this. I asked if they'd teach me some of the things that I'd always been more interested in that they hadn't seemed interested in teaching me.

"What do you mean?" they all asked.

"I've always wanted to learn how to pick locks- especially how to get out of handcuffs. You know, some of the general B&E stuff. Hot-wiring a car might be useful too."

The guys just stared at me in surprise and didn't make any indication that they were going to agree. In fact, they were eyeing the Avengers a little uncomfortably. I huffed out a "fine," but Steve interrupted and said, "How many times have you been kidnapped?"

"Too many to count."

He turned to the Rangeman as he said, "and you've never taught her how to break out of handcuffs? Or get through doors once she has done so? Or get a car so if she makes it outside, she can get to safety? I'm really surprised to hear that." His tone also made it clear that he was similarly disappointed to hear that. He turned back to me and said, "I'm not much help with the locks, since I usually just rip through them, but I can find someone to help you if they won't. I can definitely teach you how to hot-wire a car though."

Everyone kinda gaped at that except for Natasha who was nodding in agreement.

Ranger cleared his throat and said, "No offense, but where did Captain America learn to hot-wire a car?"

Natasha smirked and answered back nonchalantly, "Nazi Germany."

Everyone seemed to ponder that before accepting with a nod. Ranger spoke up again, "I'm sorry we never taught you the B&E skills, Steph. At least not in depth. I know a few of the guys have taught you a couple smaller things in passing, but we've never taken it all that seriously. I guess I always thought of them as offensive skills and we didn't want to encourage you to break the law or to break in somewhere without backup. Need I remind you of the whole toaster fires and flamethrowers thing. And since we're usually the backup, we figured we'd be able to handle it if there was a need. Captain Rogers is right though, it could have helped you in the events where you'd already been grabbed, so I'm sorry. We'll make it a point to work on that hard from now on."

"I'd like to help you develop the scenarios if you'll let me," Natasha said, "you can train her, but I have some experience that I think could be helpful in knowing what kind of situations she might need to get out of."

Before she could be asked to explain Clint just said in a monotone, "one of her preferred ways of getting intelligence or infiltrating a compound, depending on the situation, is to let the enemy capture her and then listen to the information they give away while 'interrogating' her. Then she breaks out, sometimes eliminating the compound and enemy on her way out, sometimes going about in it a bit more of a clandestine exit."

Yikes, I had a feeling that Clint wasn't a fan of the strategy, but obviously wasn't going to tell her not to do it.

My father made a comment about wishing I wouldn't get kidnapped at all, but liking the idea of me being able to get myself out if it happened. I told him that I agreed and also talked a little about my couple days of training with Natasha before my injury and how I felt I was already getting better at defending myself. We chatted for a while, probably longer than I remembered talking to him in ages, before he said that he and my grandmother should be going. I led them as far as the foyer, knowing I shouldn't be outside right now, especially at night, and thanked them for coming.

"Are you kidding, any time you want to share all that eye candy, I'm there!" exclaimed Grandma. My father just rolled his eyes at that. I chatted with them a few more minutes and then I gave them both hugs and kisses and told my dad to drive safe. I was surprised as the others all began filing out behind them. Natasha leaned in on her way out and said, "I left some things in your purse. And your bedside drawer, and your bathroom drawer. And his as well. Just in case. Don't be stupid." Thankfully she said it so quietly that I was pretty sure no one heard. Tony was the last out giving me a hug and commanding Jarvis to "Initiate Lovenest Protocols" whatever that meant.

I wandered into the living room and found that the mess had already been cleaned up, confirming my suspicions about the trash bags the Merry Men had carried out with them. Steve was standing there alone, but looking surprisingly not shy as I had been expecting. As I walked toward him, he asked me, "so, what'd the doctor say?" I stopped a few feet away and explained everything the doctor had said, making it clear that we could do whatever we wanted. God, I hoped he wanted what I wanted.

He took a deep breath and said, "oh, I definitely do, but first I wanted to ask you something." He closed the distance between us and ran his hand along my cheek, brushing my hair back before continuing to run it down my neck. He looked deep in my eyes and said, "be my best girl. My _only_ girl?"

"Only if that makes you my man, Steve Rogers, because I love you."

"Absolutely. I would be honored. I love you too." With that, he brought his other hand up and tangled both of them in my hair, gently pulling to tip my head back more as he swooped in for a kiss. His tongue immediately took possession of my mouth, demanding entrance which I willingly gave. I looped my fingers through his belt loops and pulled his body flush against mine.

When I started straining onto my tiptoes, trying to get myself closer to the correct height, he released my hair and slid his hands slowly down the sides of my body until they were on my legs, just below the hem of my dress. He pulled back and looked at me, checking for permission as he slowly slid them up, dragging the hem up with them. I whimpered, "yes. Please, Steve" and that was all he needed. He ran his hands all the way up the back of my thighs to my butt, groaning when he felt my cheeks bared by the thong panties. His hands tightened, momentarily digging into my flesh, and then he pulled me up so I could wrap my legs around his waist. We both shuddered with pleasure when his erection found the perfect spot against me.

This time, my hands tangled in his hair as I pulled him closer for another earth-shattering kiss. We stayed like that for minutes until the need for more became overwhelming. Still locked in our kisses, my hands drifted down, around his front, pulling his shirt from his pants and slowly unbuttoning it. I heard his intake of breath when I finally unbuttoned it all the way and started trailing my hands over his chest and then down and along his abdomen. Once there, I snaked them under his undershirt, letting out a groan when I met the skin of his perfect six-pack abs. Unconsciously, I rocked my hips, rubbing myself against him. It felt so good that I repeated the action intentionally, much more firmly the second time.

I felt Steve shift his grip, so he was supporting my weight now with just one arm, leaving his other to wander up to my chest. Ever so gently, in deference to my recent injuries, he caressed my breasts through the material of my dress. We were both getting increasingly frustrated by the layers between us, so when I felt Steve start walking with me in his arms, I hummed in appreciation. Both for the fact that I assumed he was headed toward one of the bedrooms as well as for the friction it caused between our bodies as I rubbed against him with each step.

When he finally stopped moving I looked around and saw that we were in his bedroom in the house. He reached around the my back and made a move to unzip me. I whispered, "are you sure? Because I am, absolutely. I want this but uh, not to be too full of myself here, but I think when you see what's under this, you might not be able to stop if you wanted to. So I'm just warning you now." I licked my lips nervously.

He looked me up and down and said, "I don't want to stop either, though I am now really really curious to see what could possibly make you say that. Not that I doubt you, that's just an odd statement to make."

I took a couple of playful steps back and said in a husky voice, "close your eyes."

Once he'd complied, I reached behind me and unzipped the dress then stepped out of it. I looked down and decided to take the heels off now. I was about to tell him to open his eyes when I saw his shield leaning against the bed. With a flash of inspiration, I quickly walked over and carefully picked it up with my right hand. I held it off to my side, so as to offer him a full view of the underwear set and said, "open your eyes."

He opened his eyes and then practically growled before he said, "I am going to take that image with me to the grave." He reached me in powerful strides, stripping his clothes off along the way, and looked me over one more time. I took in his naked form and all I could think was, "thank God for Super Serum." Then he kissed me hard while grabbing the shield throwing it haphazardly off to the side before picking me up and gently laying me on the bed. "You'll tell me if I hurt you or anything." Not a question, just a statement, but I nodded my head anyway.

He joined me on the bed, and leaned over me, careful not to rest his weight on me since that possibly _would _ hurt. He kissed me again before he started trailing kisses down my throat. When he reached my bra he just stared for a full minute before pushing the cup aside an attaching his mouth to my nipple. He laved it, throwing in a few nibbles here and there before switching to the other side. As he gave the other breast his full attention, his hands wandered down to my panties, shoving them to the side and slipping his finger inside of me eliciting a moan from deep in my throat. He groaned in response, the vibrations running through where his mouth was on my breast before he lifted his mouth to say, "so hot. So wet."

His thumb joined the party rubbing against my clit, and I grabbed onto his head and pulled him up for another kiss. The moment his tongue met mine, I felt him add a second finger inside me and I was a goner. While I started coming down from my first orgasm, he trailed kisses down my body and replaced his thumb with his mouth, stopping only long enough to pull my panties off completely. His mouth on me was almost too intense of a sensation, but he dropped slow gentle licks until I could take more. Once I could stand it, his mouth became harder and more intense as he brought me right back up so another peak was well within reach. He stopped short of sending me over and reached into his night stand, opening a box of condoms before pulling one out and putting it on himself.

He came back to me for another thorough kiss before I felt him roll us both over so I was on top. "I don't want to hurt your…" he trailed off as I slid my wet core along his erection, teasing us both. I leaned down and gave him a kiss before sitting back. When I made a move to unclasp my bra, his hands reached out and stilled mine. "If you don't mind, can you leave it this time? What it is doing to me, I can't even describe. It's like you're all mine."

I grinned at him and managed to gasp out "that's because I am all yours," as I slid myself onto him. My eyes slammed shut and I was completely focused on the sensation I went slowly, stopping to allow myself to adjust every inch or two. "Oh man, you are seriously, oh god. You feel so good."

"So do you, Love. Almost looks as good as it feels." My eyes sprang back open and I saw his gaze fixed to where I was slowly enveloping him. Damn, that's hot. It sent another wave of heat through me and a gush of liquid through my center that had me slipping the rest of the way onto him in one push. I leaned myself forward, placing my palms on his chest and resting my weight on them as I tried to adjust to the sensation of having him fill me so completely, mind, body, and heart.

I lowered myself completely against him so I could whisper "I love you" on his lips and kiss him wantonly. The movement rubbed my clit against his pelvis, causing me to tighten around him. We broke the kiss and gasped at the sensation. I rubbed myself against him a few more times, chasing that sensation before leaning back again. He brought his legs up so his feet were flat on the bed and I could lean back against his thighs. Each time I lowered back onto him after lifting myself off, he would use his position to thrust himself up into me as well. With my reclined position, he was perfectly angled and hitting my g-spot on every thrust. One hand spanned each hip as we set up a fast pace, falling in to rhythm easily. My teeth were biting my bottom lip and I started shaking because the sensation was so good but I just couldn't get there, something preventing me from falling over the edge completely. Without me having to saying anything, he slid one of his hands from my hip and slid around to my clit, rubbing and giving me the contact I needed to finally go flying into oblivion. He stayed with me through my orgasm, keeping up the pressure on my clit and his rhythm within me then gave one final thrust and sat up, pulling me into a kiss as his orgasm joined the remnants of mine.

Steve cradled me against him as he flopped back onto his back, and just relaxed with me on his chest. "That was perfect," I said.

"Perfect," he agreed as he pulled me into a kiss filled with love. The kiss started to turn heated again and I felt him stirring inside of me. Well, his body does have fast recovery times, I thought to myself, impressed, as I wiggled against him experimentally. He gave a hoarse cry then stopped me and said, "Steph, I gotta…" He pulled out of me, disposed of the used condom and, much to my surprised delight, replaced it with a new one and thrust powerfully back into me.

Somehow the last round hadn't done anything to ease either of our desires and we set an even more frantic pace this time. I was laying pressed against him, so he couldn't move out all that far, but each inward thrust rubbed him against my clit, causing my internal muscles to clench a little tighter as my third orgasm of the night started quickly building. Insistently, I twisted around so that I was on my back with him on top of me.

"What about your ribs?" he gasped out.

"What ribs? I feel great. Don't stop, Steve. I'm almost there. If you stop, I'll find a way to kill you, I promise you. Don't stop."

He must have believed me because he picked up the pace and I just started babbling, mostly alternating between, "don't stop", "right there", "love you". A couple minutes later, I screamed his name as I tightened like a vise around him and pulled him over the edge with me, calling out my name in response. Steve collapsed down, resting his weight primarily next to me on the bed before he found the energy to pull out, deal with condom number two, and lay down next to me, pulling me over and onto his chest with one of his arms wrapped around me.

"Holy hell, that was…" he trailed off, not able to find the words to finish the thought and I hummed my agreement. Throwing one of my legs over him to lay between his and with the feel of his fingers slowly playing their way through my hair, I snuggled in and drifted off to sleep.

_**Steve's POV**_

As the sun slowly starting coming through the windows the next morning, I was running my fingers through Steph's hair again, watching its color slowly be revealed to me by the sunlight. I didn't need nearly as much sleep as she did, but I didn't want to get up and let go of this feeling of contentment that overcame me just by holding her close. Then again, my proximity to her was starting to get me aroused again, and considering the two additional times we'd woken each other up during the night, I should probably let her sleep.

I pressed a kiss to Stephanie's hair and then slid out from underneath her. After taking a few seconds to stare at her all stretched out across the bed, hair all askew, I pulled on some boxers and sweat pants before walking out to the kitchen. You might think given the differences in our size, that I'd be the bed hog between us, but that definitely wasn't the case. As I set about starting some coffee and deciding what I wanted to make for breakfast, I noticed something outside. Pouring a mug of coffee when it finished, I stepped out onto the patio, feigning ignorance but not drinking any of the coffee.

"Did you get any sleep last night? Or were you here the whole time?" I asked before passing the mug up into the tree.

Clint dropped down a few branches until he could reach the mug, "thanks. I've been here since we all cleared out last night."

"I appreciate it, but you didn't have to do that. Jarvis is here and we've gone over the security of the place a few times. I thought we were all satisfied with it."

"Tony decreased it a little to give you some privacy last night. Inside, but also in places like the pool. Figured if you were taking advantage of that, your attention might not be fully on your surroundings and I couldn't leave our captain without backup."

"We've made pretty much no progress investigating any of this. I'm doing everything in my power to keep her from being outside as much as possible. But again, thanks, I appreciate the backup. Steph's still asleep." I said, running my hand over the back of my neck a little self consciously, "she probably will be for a while. And I'm awake, you should go in and catch some sleep yourself. At least a few hours."

"I'm fine, Cap. Thanks for the coffee." With that he handed me the mug and clambered back up the tree to his original perch. As I approached the house, I noticed a blur of movement coming at me out of the corner of my eye. Knowing who it had to be if Hawkeye hadn't fired, I countered gently making sure she knew she hadn't gotten the drop on me, but also making sure not to toss her as we were surrounded by concrete, not gym pads.

"Where's my coffee?"

"Good morning to you too, Natasha. I didn't see you until I got outside, so yours is inside."

She smirked hearing that I hadn't seen her and quickly went inside. I followed her into the kitchen and as she poured herself a mugful said, "Like I told Clint, the backup wasn't necessary, but I appreciate it."

Natasha just waved my thanks off. Then with another smirk she added, "probably not as much as you appreciated our birthday present for Steph. I checked at the party checked to make sure she had on the whole outfit last night, not just the dress and shoes."

I choked out a laugh, "Please tell me you're joking. You didn't actually check."

"She did indeed. Cornered me right here in this kitchen and pulled out the front of the dress," came Stephanie's voice from behind me. She poured and chugged her first cup of coffee while laughing at the look of shock on my face at hearing that. Unable to speak as I took in the sight of her still very ruffled and wearing only my shirt, I nodded my head when she asked if I want some coffee.

Steph was absolutely glowing, like a big neon sign that was screaming out to the world, "I had a bunch of sex last night!"

"Nice. I see it worked," commented Natasha.

I started to say something back, but Steph just hummed in agreement before handing me one of the mugs of coffee she was holding then grabbing my other hand with her newly freed one and dragging me back toward the bedroom, advising me to drink my coffee fast.

As soon as we cleared the bedroom door and it shut behind us, Steph grabbed my empty mug, set them both on the nightstand then opened the drawer, grabbed a condom, and jumped me. I caught her, groaning when I realized she didn't have anything on under my shirt, granting me free access to her. With a matching moan, she shoved my pants down just enough to slide the condom on before I pinned her to the wall and slid into her.

We set a frantic pace that we matched during round two when cleanup in the shower got a little out of hand. When I held her, panting against the shower wall as we both tried to come back to ourselves, she leaned up and gave me a quick kiss. "Okay, I'm awake now. And I _might_ be able to think about something other than this today," she said. "What is Natasha doing here so early?"

"Clint's here too. Apparently Tony took the liberty of turning down Jarvis's security a little last night to make sure that he didn't catch anything on video that would make us uncomfortable if we'd left the bedroom. That left some security gaps, so Clint and Natasha decided to stay and watch over those to make sure no one took advantage of them."

"That was nice of them. Hopefully they didn't catch too much of a show before we made it into the bedroom."

I paused at that. "I don't think they would have watched."

Stephanie just scoffed at that and patted me on the cheek. "I don't know about Clint, but Natasha probably would. I mean, she made sure I got a wax yesterday, then checked to make sure that I was wearing the probably custom-made sex underwear she bought me."

I didn't really want to think too much about that, so I focused on the last part instead, "you think that was custom made underwear?"

Steph shrugged as we both grabbed towels to dry off before stepping out of the shower, "probably. It matched your uniform really well, and in my experience most costume-type underwear isn't that incredibly soft and well-made. So I'm guessing custom. Though I haven't explored much of the shopping in the city yet due to the whole bed rest thing, not to mention the someone wants to kill me thing, so it could be she knows a really good lingerie shop. I mean, there is a lot of Avengers lingerie and stuff out there."

This conversation was taking a bizarre turn, "there is?"

"Yep! Sex toys and stuff too!"

Now I just stared at her having absolutely no idea what to do with that statement. She laughed, "one of my repeat FTAs in Trenton owns a sex store called Pleasure Treasures, so I wind up there somewhat regularly. Anytime the Avengers make the news, she sets up a special section of the store."

I could feel my cheeks heat up as I blushed bright red.

"Is this like how you didn't know that you're a full-on celebrity? Did you not know that people think you're sexy as hell? I mean, in her store alone there are all kinds of-"

I cut her off with a kiss that got, a little more out of hand than intended, but not too bad. "Let's stop talking about this; I don't want to know. I don't want to think about that. I'm just glad that you think I'm 'sexy as hell,' so let's just leave it at that."

"I said that people say you're sexy as hell, not that I say you're sexy as hell," she teased me. So I just pinned her to the bathroom counter and started tickling her until she was saying, "I give, I give! You are sexy as hell!"

Suddenly all our playfulness turned into need and I pushed my body closer into hers and licked her bottom lip as I responded, "so are you, Steph, so are you." When she opened her mouth, I couldn't help but steal another deep kiss. Before I knew it, we were lost in each other and I was mentally praising whoever had made this bathroom counter exactly the right height for us.

"Oh God," Stephanie said once we'd come back to reality, "you are a dangerous, dangerous man. No more of that for at least a few hours." Then she shoved me back, hopped down from the counter clumsily, and gave me a quick kiss. Even I had to admit last night and this morning were a little bit ridiculous. I grinned while I watched her stumble back into the bedroom, pick my shirt up off the floor, pull it over her head, and flop onto the bed. She pulled a pillow over her head to block out the light and quickly fell asleep. I stood there watching her for a few more minutes, unable to believe she was really mine. Quietly dressing in jeans and a t-shirt, I went about getting ready for the day.

When I opened the bedroom door, I heard more voices coming out of the living room. Knowing Steph didn't have any clothes in my room, I detoured by her bedroom, grabbed some clothes and her toothbrush for her, and took them back to my room, setting them on the bedside table where I hoped she'd see them when she woke up.

I made my way back out to the living room and all heads turned to me with smiles on their faces.  
"Where's Stephanie?" Pepper asked.

"She's, uh, still asleep." I said, trying not to look at my feet and blush. I almost made it, at least until I heard Natasha mutter, "more like asleep again."

"Have a good night?" Tony asked, feigning ignorance.

"Shut it, Stark."

Pepper just continued on as if nothing had happened, "if you think she might be up soon, we'd like to take her out to brunch."

"If she's not up in an hour, I'll go wake her up."

"Or maybe we should send someone else in," snarked Tony. I watched Pepper give him a little smack upside the head and nodded at her in appreciation.

"Got something safe set up?" Everyone nodded and I trusted them so I let it go.

After grabbing myself a quick bite to eat while we waited, I settled on a chair in the living room with a sketchbook, listening to the others chat.

I'll give Tony credit, he lasted about twice as long as I thought he would before he switched back onto the subject of Stephanie and I. That is to say he lasted about 10 minutes.

"So, definitely no longer a virgin, right?"

I just ignored him. I still didn't understand why he would be so convinced I was, but it was none of his business so I wasn't going to say anything..

"Come on Cap, how was it?"

"Tony, you know I'm not going to answer your questions, so just drop it."

Another 30 minutes and three attempted inquisitions by Tony later, Stephanie came into the living room. Unfortunately, Tony was the first person to see her and her post-sex glow hadn't dimmed at all. So of course, Tony just immediately barked out a laugh and said, "well, that answers that question," drawing everyone's attention to Steph and smiles to their faces.

"You do know I could kill you before your suit could get here to save you, right?" I said, without taking my eyes off Stephanie as she walked over to perch on the armrest of my chair.

"It's fine, Steve."

"It's really not, Steph."

"Right, so, good morning, Sleeping Beauty," said Tony. Steph rolled her eyes at that, but all I could think was that it was a very true nickname. She is beautiful when she sleeps. All the time really, but there's an extra layer of beautiful serenity when she's asleep. "We'd like to take you out to brunch if that sounds good to you."

Her stomach let out a huge growl that rivaled the Hulk waking Tony up when he was unconscious. Well, not really, but it was shockingly loud especially coming out of someone so small. None of us wanted to see what would happen if we didn't feed her, so we went to brunch.


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer: **The characters and things you recognize in this story don't belong to me. They belong to Marvel and Janet Evanovich. I'm pretty sure you'll recognize which is which. Mistakes belong to me.

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Chapter 11

_**Steve's POV**_

Silence fell over the table at brunch when Steph's phone rang and flashed across her screen as an unknown caller. With my super soldier hearing, I always tried to be respectful and not listen in. In situations like this, sitting so close, I'd easily be able to hear both sides of the conversation. Sometimes I just don't mean to and I hear it anyway though. This was one of those times and as soon as I heard the caller respond to Stephanie's greeting with "fucking bitch" my head snapped toward her and I reached over, took her phone, and put it on speakerphone as Steph responded, "who is this?"

"I'm so disappointed that you haven't enjoyed our game and decided to run away with your so-called boyfriend instead. Whore. Maybe it's because I wasn't giving you enough attention."

I did not like the way he said "attention," it was nothing other than predatory.

"Are you the person who bombed my apartment and my car?"

"And the backup car, yes, that was me."

"Were you the person who shot me?"

The voice laughed chillingly before saying, "I wish. Unfortunately I hadn't tracked you down yet at the time, so I didn't get the chance before you went into hiding. You've been neglecting me when all I want to do is play. I thought maybe I've been boring you, so I left you a little present."

"Why me?"

"You met a friend of mine once, played a game with him. Only you cheated and had the Web Master kill him, so I've been waiting for the right time to finish his game. I do hope you enjoy your welcome back home present."

The line went dead and we all watched Stephanie, who had gone pale during the exchange, waiting for her to say something.

"I'll be right back."

She made a mad dash toward the bathroom of the restaurant Tony had rented out, and even though we were alone, Natasha chased after her. The rest of us sat there, but I got up as soon as Natasha opened the door again and motioned for me. When I walked in, I found Stephanie on the floor being violently ill and sobbing. Natasha was standing off to the side holding her hair back and when Pepper peaked her head in, I asked her to grab a glass of water for Steph. Once it seemed like Steph didn't have anything else left in her stomach, but just couldn't calm down enough to stop gagging, I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her into me whispering in her ear that she was okay, that I had her, and we weren't going to let anything happen to her.

I held her for several minutes until she quieted and relaxed against me. Then I coaxed her into drinking some of the water and brushing her teeth with the toothbrush and toothpaste Pepper had somehow magically procured for her. Natasha took the water glass and toiletries when Steph was done and murmured that she'd be outside waiting with everyone else. Once we were alone, Stephanie just buried her head in my chest and wrapped her arms around me and held on as I gently rocked her from side to side. We stayed like that for a good long while, with Natasha and Pepper taking turns unobtrusively checking on us.

Finally we made our way back out into the restaurant and to our table where everyone was waiting. Pulling Stephanie on my lap, I wrapped my arms around her and held on, reminding us both that she was safe as she explained about "the game" to us. As near as I could tell, she'd be stalked and terrorized for days, toyed with by someone named Fisher Cat. I winced when I thought of the roses I'd given her, but she just patted my hand. Everything he'd done had been in the name of some sick game that he'd won, by killing others, and she was made the prize for. Once he finally decided to make his move, he told her he was going to kill her then rape her dead body. She fought back and might have made it out on her own, but someone killed him first and shot her with a tranquilizer.

She later got kidnapped by the person who killed Fisher Cat and found out it was a man named Cone who called himself the Web Master. He locked her in a warehouse and toyed with her, threatening the lives of Lula and brother-in-law as well. Thankfully he underestimated Stephanie and she made it to where he'd stashed a gun and killed him, three shots to the chest. I was pleased to hear that she'd defended herself, but I couldn't help thinking about the chain with bells she'd had stuck to her so he could hear her in the dark and the fact that she couldn't have gotten out of those and the building if she'd wanted to. This was pretty much exactly what I'd been talking about when I'd supported her desire to learn lockpicking and other similar skills! The glances I exchanged with Natasha and Clint told me that they were thinking the exact same thing.

"So, we're looking for someone who knows this Fisher Cat person," said Pepper once Stephanie had finished her story.

"Maybe. Or it could just be someone with access to the files on those cases," I said. "If we think about what the caller actually told us about that case, he didn't actually say 'Fisher Cat'. He did know the name 'Web Master' though, and he knew that the Web Master had killed Fisher Cat. He also knew that it was a game, and that someone was leaving Stephanie presents along the way. That sounds to me like a little more than just someone who read newspaper articles, but not necessarily someone who knew or was involved with Fisher Cat."

From the doorway, I heard Ranger speak up, "You're right. And for what it's worth, Morelli still has a couple days left on his alcohol and anger management program. My sources say he hasn't left, but we're working to verify that fact."

He walked over to us and squatted down so that he was eye level with Steph and asked, "you alright?" She just nodded her head. "I had a couple of the guys who were out stop by your apartment. They talked to Dillon who said that work was just about done on it and he was going to call you this week, though they didn't seem convinced that he actually was going to call you. I think you may have finally broken Dillon, Babe."

"Wouldn't blame him if I had."

"When they went up to your apartment, they found a vase filled with red roses and white carnations sitting outside the front door. They called TPD and are waiting for the Bomb Squad to show. This guy has already blown up that very apartment, as well as two cars, so nobody is taking any chances here."

"Oh man, I really can't move back there now. My poor neighbors!"

I tensed a little at the mention of Stephanie moving out of the Tower and back to Trenton. True, Trenton wasn't all that far from NYC, and I knew we hadn't been together very long yet, but I didn't want her to move away.

"Hey!" exclaimed Tony, "I thought you liked living in the Tower and you were going to stick around and help Ranger set up his new office?"

Everyone was eyeing Stephanie warily now. "I wasn't actually planning to move back, I guess I was just realizing that I really can't now. Or at least shouldn't." Then she reassured, "I do like living in the Tower, and I am planning to stay in New York and help Ranger set up the new office. But we all know I can't just stay in the Tower, I'm going to need to find an apartment at some point here."

"We can sort that out later," Pepper chimed in.

"Right, Ranger, you guys have things in Trenton under control and you'll keep us posted, right?" asked Tony. At Ranger's nod of affirmation, Tony continued, "So, we're just going to continue on with our day as planned which involves staying away from Trenton. We'll be on extra alert though, and Steph, we're going to stop at the Tower first and get you fresh body armor."

Everyone was walking out to the cars when we were brought to a halt by the sight of red roses and white carnations on the windshields of each car we'd brought with us. Including Ranger's Turbo. I shoved Stephanie behind me, hearing Thor move into place behind her, and turned to Ranger, "you've been here about 10 minutes, right?"

"Yep, those weren't there and I didn't see anyone suspicious."

We marched Stephanie right back inside, with me in front of her and Thor at her back. Sandwiched between the two of us, barely any of her would be visible. Mentally I cursed myself for taking her out of the house without a vest today.

"Helicopter's on the way," Tony said.

"You really can't keep using helicopters to take me places; that has got to be crazy expensive," Stephanie protested.

"Sure I can, I'm a billionaire. And not like one billion dollars. What are we at now, Pepper, like 15? I own lots of helicopters and it is cheaper and less upsetting than having my car blow up. Plus, we were going to get on the helicopter at the Tower anyway for a tour of the city, so we'll just do that on the way. No big deal."

Stephanie started to protest, so I cut her off with a quick kiss. "You have to learn to pick your battles with him, and this isn't one that is worth picking. Plus, you're not going to win, and everyone else in this room is on his side right now."

"I've called to local police and TPD. I'll handle things here, and make sure your cars get back to you after they've been cleared." Ranger stated, "Bobby, Lester, Tank and Hector are already in Manhattan. With your permission, they'll join you this afternoon. Tank and Lester will meet you in the tower, Hector and Bobby will shadow you. You were planning to be on foot after the tour, right?"

We all nodded in agreement, then hustled out to the helicopter when it landed. After taking the scenic route back, we found ourselves at the Tower. I got Stephanie to eat some crackers from the common area kitchen as, let's be honest, she didn't have any of her brunch left in her. Then I distracted her while we waited for the others to join us by stealing some kisses in the kitchen with my body pressed up against hers. Thankfully, Natasha came in and cleared her throat before we could get too carried away.

"Stephanie, we want to gear you up and talk about this afternoon."

Stephanie already had her gun holstered at the small of her back, but Natasha gave her a backup piece with an ankle holster. Once she'd strapped that on, she was given another ankle holster with two knives on it. I handed her some pepper spray to clip onto her belt as well, ignoring Clint's chuckle at the gesture. Then Natasha pulled her into the other room, and I wasn't sure what that was about, but I had a feeling some Widow Bites might be involved. I just hoped she gave her good instructions, though my understanding was that in the whole Project Insight debacle, Natasha had used one on herself and had probably an even more healthy understanding of how much they hurt. So probably she'd make sure Steph didn't get herself. Then again, Natasha might just find it funny.

Almost as though it was rehearsed or choreographed, the second Natasha came back into the common room with Steph, Tony swooped in his arms full of goodies. "Okay, Steph. This watch is a replacement for your current bracelet. You'll notice it is a bit bulky, but not too bad. It still has a panic button, but it now has a microphone so we'll be able to hear what's going on, only after the panic button has been activated as well as a speaker so that we can talk to you if necessary. It also allows Jarvis to talk to you and you to talk to Jarvis through the watch if you can't through this." He says while handing her a new Starkphone. "Both the phone and the watch have explosive scanning capabilities that should work for cars as well as most doors as long as they aren't too heavily reinforced." He went about demonstrating both to her.

I watched her carefully and heard her mutter something about "waste of money" and "really too much" but was pleasantly surprised when she took a few more seconds to think about it and decided to accept them without argument. Tony walked her through accessing Jarvis with both and using the explosive scanners.

Before he handed her the watch, however, he held up a second watch in a different color. "This one looks different so you don't mix them up. I know how you feel about trackers and we're not going to make you wear one if you still don't want one. However, given the references this guy made to 'The Game' that those people played with you before, Jarvis thinks, and we agree, that there is a high probability that this guy is going to want to catch you and toy with you. Maybe make you play a game with him again. So, this watch has a tracker. I would recommend you wear this watch until we catch the guy, but I'm giving you both and the choice is up to you."

We all watched carefully, trying to keep our faces blank, as Stephanie's face screwed up in distaste at the mention of trackers. But she eyed both watches contemplatively, and understandably paled and the mention of being made to play a "game" with someone who wanted to kill her again. She held both watches in her hand and we watched the indecision play on her face before she finally put on the watch with the tracker on it.

Then Tony went on to the last couple of things he was holding. "Okay, I have some new body armor for you. Given how high powered of a weapon you were shot with last time, this is a little bit bulkier than the last, but it is designed to be worn under a shirt, so you can cover it up. I know you can't ride that bike anytime soon, but I made you an additional piece of armor built into this jacket. I'd recommend using it when you're outside and you can stand it. Both are obviously bulky, but I think you'll find them the most breathable of any similar item on the market today."

You could see a little bit of light come across Stephanie's face, no doubt remembering when she'd teased him asking him if the last one would work. It quickly clouded again as she remembered what happened to the vest and how close she came to death. So instead of joking again, her eyes filled with tears and she grabbed both and choked out a "thanks, Tony."

He tilted her chin up to look him in the eyes as he said, "I don't care what happens to that, I've got more in the works for you already so you can rotate them, just make sure that whatever happens to them, you come back to us, okay?"

She latched on to Tony with a big hug and I gave him a grateful nod. Tony seemed okay with the hug even though he generally didn't like to be touched. That is until he heard her start sniffling and realized that she was crying at least a little. Then his eyes came back to me wide with panic and he mouthed, "help" at me. I chuckled at his reaction but pulled Stephanie away from him and into my embrace until she managed to fight off the tears again.

She pulled away with a "sorry about that. I hate crying." Receiving various versions of "that's okay" from everyone in the room. Then she left the room to put on the armor and we all stood around waiting, greeting Tank and Lester when they arrived.

I ran a hand through my hair and looked at everyone gathered around. Taking a deep breath and then blowing it out, I said, "are we being stupid taking her out?"

"We can't keep her locked away forever, Steve," reasoned Bruce.

"Better to draw something out when we're prepared for it. Plus, she's going to want to work this week, and she'll just go stir crazy and insist on going out when you're less prepared if we don't do something like this," pointed out Lester with Tank nodding in agreement.

Rolling her eyes, Pepper clapped her hands and added, "Plus, you know, it's her birthday this weekend! We want to celebrate how glad we are that she was born and that she's still alive!"

Rather than getting caught up in the close calls, I let myself smile at that! because it was true. My smile just got bigger when Stephanie came back in and greeted the newcomers before walking over to me, putting her arm around my waist and leaning in to me. She was practically vibrating with excitement as she asked where we were going.

"We've got a few places in mind, but we'll be starting with Central Park. Figured you might need a little sunshine, and we can at least attempt to blend into the crowd there." Hearing my answer, she squeezed me tightly in appreciation.

Without any more discussion, we headed out of the Tower and were on our way to the park. Stephanie spent a good deal of the walk plastered to my side, but she also made a point of rotating around and talking with the others as well. We'd immediately been noticed upon leaving the Tower- everyone knew who lived there and we were pretty obvious leaving as a group. Although I'd seen some cameras come out and some people followed us for a few blocks, nobody who seemed overly threatening was hanging around. Plus Stephanie hadn't felt anything that was off, and we were all developing a healthy respect for that sixth sense of hers.

Reaching the park, we all dispersed a little to walk around and explore. I was able to sneak a couple minutes of semi-privacy with Stephanie to pull her behind a tree and steal some kisses. We broke off the kisses after a couple minutes and I just held her as we whispered "I love yous" back and forth.

Eventually we wandered over to where Happy had been waiting for us all, guarding a picnic set-up. Happily we were able to eat and sit around on the picnic blankets for a while without being disturbed. I had pulled Stephanie onto my lap at some point and was playing with her hair, watching the sun dance across it as I ran my fingers through the curls and we chatted with the others. As we had all expected, the crowd that had been slowly gathering in the perimeter eventually became brave enough to approach.

When the first group approached, Stephanie blushed and made a move to get off my lap, but I just held her where she was, wanting to keep her there for as long as possible. Finally I did have to give in and let her off my lap so I could stand for some pictures, but I was able to keep her close because several of the people seemed to want pictures of us together. Her face the first time someone asked for her to be in the picture was hilarious because, while I had expected this to happen at some point, she was clearly surprised.

There was, as usual, a pretty large contingent of children there, most of whom split up to talk to their favorite Avenger. Or, you know, just stare up at us in awe while their parents talked for them, which was always cute.

I let out a chuckle at the look on Stephanie's face though when one little girl walked right up to her and asked for Stephanie's autograph. I could tell that she expected it to be because she was my girlfriend, but was pleasantly surprised when the girl said, "is it true that you hunt down the bad guys who refuse to go to jail?" She answered the question as well as a few more that some additional kids came up and asked. When one of the kids asked if he could play with her gun, we all turned to see how she'd handle the situation. I thought she handled it perfectly, being gentle but firm as she explained that the gun was an unfortunately necessary tool and definitely not a toy.

It wasn't too long before she and some of the children started a game of "Bounty Hunter" which seemed to basically be a combination of tag and hide and seek. As subtly as we could, the remainder of us kind of spread out so we'd have more angles with which to see Steph when she hid. I was grateful to see a few more men in black had arrived as the crowd grew and nodded my thanks to Tank. I was also glad to see Steph make an extremely conscious effort to stay within the line of sight of at least one, if not more, of us each time she hid. Watching her laugh and play while interacting with the kids was seriously enthralling, and I was so glad that we'd decided to do this. It was probably the most carefree she'd been since that first date on the beach.

Sam walked up next to me watching me watch Steph and said, "man, you've got it bad."

"Yep."

"She's good at all this."

"She is. It helps that she somehow still genuinely likes people, despite everything she's gone through and the types of people she hunts down regularly."

"She does seem to see the good in almost everyone. She's good for you."

"She is. I just hope I'm as good for her."

We were starting to get ready to head out when I felt a little tug on my pants. I looked down and let out a chuckle of delight when I saw who was there. I called Steph over as I squatted down. When she reached me and squatted down next to me, I said, "Stephanie, I want you to meet my new friend Lacey. She helped me out and gave me some advice about what to get you for your birthday."

"Hi Lacey, it is so nice to meet you. I saw you on the news yesterday, and I was hoping I'd get to meet you at some point!"

Lacey had what appeared to be the rose I'd given her yesterday in her hair and she smiled at that. "You're not mad about that, right?"

"Nope!" said Stephanie. Lacey told us not to move and we waited patiently as we ran over to her mom. When she came back, she had a small bouquet of daisies in her hand.

"We came over as soon as we heard that you were in the park. I was worried that you wouldn't be here anymore when we got here, but I stopped and got you these just in case. Captain 'Merica said you'd been having a 'rough time' and I thought I'd help try to cheer you up. Happy birthday, Stephanie!"

Steph's eyes sparkled with delight as she took the daisies with a big smile and thank you before wrapping Lacey in a hug. My heart skipped a beat at the site, wondering if one day I'd get to watch Stephanie hug a mini-her who was our daughter. It wouldn't be anytime soon, but I decided I liked the idea. I looked over and saw Natasha laughing with a smirk on her face that clearly said, "I know what you're thinking!" directed at me. I just shrugged at her in response before reaching to the bouquet and taking one of the daisies to put in Stephanie's hair just like Lacey had done with her rose. Lacey's smile got even bigger at that.

We chatted with Lacey for a few more minutes before telling her that we were glad we'd gotten to see her but we needed to leave. As we walked out of the park and on to our next destination, I pulled Stephanie close with an arm around her waist. "You handled that really well, Steph. Thanks."

"I don't know why you're thanking me, it was no big deal. But you're welcome."

"It's a big deal because it shows me that you might be willing to stick around for a while and aren't going to be scared off by things like that. It'll probably happen a lot when we're out. I can't promise you anonymity or privacy if you're with me. Really I can only tell you that you'll probably experience a lot of the opposite, and I wouldn't blame you if you didn't want to deal with that."

She gave me a little hip bump and nuzzled into me further, "as long as I get you out of the deal, I'm more than happy to deal with as much of that as necessary."

"I'm glad you feel that way. There's actually a charity ball thing on Friday; will you go with me?"

"If you think it'll be safe, then of course."

We walked in silence for a bit longer before we reached our destination, a fairly low-key bar of which we were all fond. It was just a few blocks from the Tower and, for the most part, the patrons were regulars and would leave us alone when we visited. It seemed someone had called ahead for us, probably Pepper, and gotten a few tables reserved together. We hadn't even sat down yet, I was helping Stephanie out of her jacket, when a waitress walked up with a giant margarita and placed it in front of Stephanie. "We heard you liked these; it's on the house. Happy birthday, we're glad to have you here celebrating with us."

Stephanie murmured her thanks and once the waitress was back out of earshot she said, "I don't know whether to find that awesome or creepy."

Clint was across the way from us and just called out, "free booze is always awesome!"

Stephanie thought about it before nodding in agreement, taking her seat, and then taking a big sip of her margarita. I looked at the size of the margarita and remembered what Ranger had said about her being a lightweight. It was going to be an interesting night.

After a while, I reluctantly allowed Steph to lead me over to the open area of floor where some dancing was always happening. By now I'd danced a few times with various women, but it just wasn't really my favorite activity. An opinion that, I had to admit, was quickly changing as Stephanie pulled herself closer and closer to me while we danced. After a couple of songs though, I gladly let Lester cut in with a mostly friendly warning of "as long as you keep your hands appropriate!" and a quick kiss for Stephanie.

A couple minutes after I sat down where I could keep an eye on Steph, I had Natasha on one side and Pepper on my other. Eyeing them cautiously I said, "what?"

They both put on their innocent faces, which for Natasha just made me more suspicious, and Pepper said, "nothing. We just want to make sure our friend Steve is having a good time."

"I am," I replied blandly. I allowed them to squirm and try to make small talk and pry information out of me for a while. I really didn't like to talk about my personal matters, but I did trust them both. Mostly it was just fun to mess with them. When it seemed they might be about to give up, I turned to Pepper and said, "is it alright if I bring Steph on Friday?" before chuckling at her squeal of delight.

"Absolutely! Tony's designed a dress for her. It should be ready by Wednesday."

Natasha and I both gaped at her for a few seconds before Natasha finally got out a "Tony did what?"

"Okay, well I and one of my favorite designers helped with the 'design the dress' part, but Tony has been frantically working on it since the shooting. It matches your uniform, Steve, since you all have to wear your uniforms this time, but it is made mostly out of one of his body armor materials. It took him a solid week just to get the material right so it could be sewn into more than just a bulky shirt, and since then it's been getting the fabric to work as a dress."

I pondered that for a moment before smiling my appreciation at Pepper. I tuned Pepper and Natasha out as they talked a bit about their dresses. I was becoming more tense as time passed. Steph had gone to the bathroom, with a Rangeman escort, several minutes ago. Could just be that there was a line, but my instincts were starting to scream at me. I got to my feet now completely ignoring Pepper and noticed that Natasha was doing the same.

My gaze was fixed on the hallway I'd last seen Stephanie disappear into as I rushed over. When I got there, I saw Tank and Lester both down. Lester was right outside the bathroom door, unconscious and bleeding from the side of his head where a bump was already forming. Tank was at the entry to the hallway with a dart sticking out of his leg, weapon partway out of his holster and unconscious. I quickly checked on both, confirming that they were breathing and I thought they'd be okay. It seemed as though Lester had been taken down by a blow to the head while escorting Steph to the bathroom, and Tank had rushed over to help, only to be tranqued. As I stood, Natasha came out of the bathroom shaking her head. Stephanie wasn't inside.

I broke out in a run when I heard gunshots and shouting from outside the back door further down the hallway, hitting my panic button in case anyone wasn't already on their way as I ran. When I made it out the other side of the door, I took a few seconds to assess what I saw in front of me. Just a few steps outside the door was a man I'd never seen before. He was shot dead. Stephanie and a couple Rangemen were struggling with a group of men who had Stephanie in the middle of it. The Rangemen were trying to fight their way to Steph as she was trying to fight her way out.

My blood turned to ice when I saw who had Stephanie. "Batroc!" I called. "Let her go! Your fight is with me!"

I heard Tony yelling at Jarvis to send a suit as rain clouds started gathering around us and Mjolnir flew into Thor's hands.

Batroc called to me, "I think I'll keep her for my own after I kill you! Should be easier now that you don't have a shield to hide behind." He passed Stephanie off to one of his men surprisingly carelessly and came rushing toward me. Just before he took a flying leap at me, I saw Stephanie pepper spray one of his men then execute the flying takedown Natasha had shown her on another. My momentary distraction making sure Steph was well and had gotten free enough to start fighting back allowed Batroc to land his kick, but I just rolled with it and quickly rebounded to my feet.

"We've done this before. You know I don't need my shield to beat you." I replied. The battle waged on and we were outnumbered and fairly evenly matched. I was relieved when Tony yelled "incoming" as his suit dropped my shield down to me before opening and latching onto him. Stephanie was still too far away and being dragged even farther and I couldn't get to her. Suddenly, someone dropped down seemingly from nowhere and into the middle of the group of men holding her. I freaked out when I saw who it was until I realized that he was standing back to back with Stephanie and helping her fight.

Without any more hesitation I yelled out "Bucky!" and hurled my shield at him as fast and as hard as I could, satisfied when he caught it with his mechanical arm and then swung it around, using it to help Stephanie even more. We were finally making progress, and Batroc must have realized he wasn't going to win this battle, because he stepped out of my range and said in French "until next time." Some sort of large smoke bomb went off and when the smoke cleared, we looked around and all our adversaries were gone. Bucky was covering Steph with his body, shield in front of them, surrounded by cops with their guns pointed at them. I ran over yelling out, "he's with us! Lower your weapons!"

After a few more tense seconds, they complied and Bucky tossed me my shield before gesturing to Stephanie and saying, "I think this belongs to you too." I let out a laugh and a "damn right," as I pulled Steph into my arms.

I held onto her and she was saying that she was okay over and over again until I eased up. I turned back to Bucky and said, "Bucky, is that really you this time?" When he gave me a painfully familiar grin, I pulled him into a half hug and said, "It's good to see you, after all this time. I missed you. And thanks for your help, I could never repay you for this."

"Trust me, I still owe you. You helped me break free from Hydra and find myself. I'm just glad I was here to help. I've been following you trying to find a good time and way to approach you to let you know I'm back and myself again. I was a few buildings away, and I was worried I'd get here too late to help her. That's quite the fighter you've got there."

Steph's POV

I couldn't believe it! Bucky! Steve had told me about him, and about trying to find him after everything that happened in D.C. before he was forced to give up the hunt and come back to the States. I know he was sure he'd never see Bucky again. I held on to Steve and listened to them get reacquainted with each other. Then I reached around Steve with a smile on my face and held my hand out to Bucky while meeting his eyes, "Hi, I'm Stephanie Plum. I'm so glad to meet you. I wish it was under different circumstances, but thanks for helping me."

I could see a look of surprise on his face; he seemed to think I would be afraid of him, but I really wasn't. He'd pulled Steve out of the Potomac, and that was enough for me to give him a chance. Not to mention he'd just saved me from, at the very least, being kidnapped. Possibly much worse. And it seemed the Steve was satisfied for right now that he was in his right mind.

After a few minutes Natasha, standing next to a man in a suit and a few cops, interrupted and said, "Steph, can you explain the body we've got over here?"

"Yeah. I think when we investigate further, we'll find that is the person who bombed my apartment and the cars. That's Bart Cone, and he always gave me the creeps. He was the Web Master's brother, and he knew what was going on with The Game. Even tried to cover for his brother. I'm not quite sure what happened after Clyde died, but clearly he came back and decided he wanted to kill me. He was waiting for me in the bathroom hallway and took out Tank and Lester. Are they okay?"

They assured me that they were and I continued, "when he pulled me out the back door, that Batroc guy told him to let me go and that he'd be taking me off Bart's hands. Bart refused saying he wanted to play with me and Batroc shot him."

I shuddered at that and felt Steve's arms tighten around me and Bucky quietly ask "bombs"? I turned and gave Steve a quick kiss on the cheek before pulling his arms from around me, and walking over to Natasha.

We talked to the cops for a while, and I appreciated the fact that Steve was holding back and giving me space despite the fact that I was pretty sure he wanted to be physically holding me right now. Natasha and I explained things to the cops for quite a while, and I provided them with contact information for Trenton PD as well as Mayor Joe Juniak to verify my stories. I allowed them to test me for gunshot residue knowing that I hadn't fired a gun for weeks, and the man in the suit eventually intervened and led them away from me.

Before I could head back to Steve, Natasha grabbed me by the arm. "What's up, Tasha?"

"Before their fellow henchmen took them away, I count three you took down."

"Four."

She nodded at that, looking at me contemplatively. "How are you feeling? Your ribs okay?"

"Surprisingly, yes."

She nodded again. Then she reached into one of the pockets attached to her belt, checked that no one was paying us too close attention, and shoved a couple condoms in my pocket.

"Geeze, we haven't used all of the ones you gave us at the house, and I'm sure Steve both packed some of them up from there and has some in his apartment."

"You did use them last night, right?" I could see Natasha's eyes widening in probably as close to panic as I'd seen so far.

"Yeah…"

"Don't forget. Based on your medical records, I'm sure you think you have it covered, but Cap's DNA was chemically altered. No one is sure exactly what that would mean. So unless you're positive your chemical barrier is stronger than the chemistry that made that," she gestured toward Steve, "you might want to make sure there's a physical barrier as well. Or unless you're willing to take that risk already."

I paled a little and said, "I'm sure he has some in his room though."

"Adrenaline. You need them on you. I doubt you'll make it to his room before you need them."

At this point, I was alternating between extreme embarrassment and also fear. We'd used condoms and I was on the pill, but Natasha had a point… and condoms weren't 100% effective. Hopefully the combination would be good enough because I really couldn't picture myself as a mom. Steve as a dad, sure, that was easy, but I much preferred being an aunt where you could pump the kids full of sugar then pass them off at the end of the day.

"Breathe." Natasha commanded. "It'll be fine."

Maybe I should get a diaphragm too. Do they let you do that?

At Natasha's chuckle I blushed and she just said, "yep, out loud. If you're that concerned, I'll ask Bruce for you. He probably knows the most about the serum of anyone we can trust. I think you're fine though."

"Thanks, Tash." I had a moment of panic when I realized she'd given me permission to call her "Tasha" but not "Tash". She let it go though and I sighed with relief.

"I think Steve's going to explode if you don't wind up back over there soon, so you better go. And when the adrenaline rush comes, try not to forget about…" she trailed off gesturing at my pocket.

"Thanks."

"No problem. We'll do some light yoga and stretching tomorrow, okay? You did good tonight."

I nodded my head and walked back to Steve, letting out an exaggerated "oof" when he pulled me tightly back into him. Before too much longer, we were headed back to the Tower. The whole way, Steve was holding onto me tightly, his hand stroking up and down my side in a way that I was sure was reassuring him that I was there, but it was also revving me up. When we got to the tower, we made plans to all meetup in the common living room in an hour. Bucky and Sam looked at each other before saying that they'd head there now and take care of getting some snacks and such together. Maybe catch some of a baseball game while they waited. I felt Steve, who I was pressed up against nod in appreciation as we stepped off on his floor.

As soon as the elevator doors closed behind us, he hoisted me up and I locked my legs around his waist. His mouth dropped to mine in an urgent, hungry kiss as he walked across the short entryway and toward his apartment door. No sooner had the door shut behind us then I felt him pressing me against it.

"Steph, Doll, I gotta. Please." He groaned out, grinding his hips into me.

"Yes," came my breathless reply. "I need you."

He used one arm to support me and the other to pull my pants down, but I managed to snag one of the condoms out of my pocket before they were out of reach. HIs finger slid into me, checking that I was as ready as he was, and I could swear that he whispered out a prayer of thanks when he found me wet with a need that matched his. When he opened his jeans, I pulled him out and slid the condom on. Just as quickly he pushed into me. We both paused for a few seconds before setting up a frantic pace.

When we collapsed together against the door, I heard Steve gasp out, "I was so afraid."

"I know, so was I. But I'm okay."

He just held on for a few more minutes, pressing me against him tightly, with his ear against me listening to my heart beat. Finally he pulled away with a kiss and said, "let's go get cleaned up before we meet the others." I agreed but grabbed my jeans from the floor as he picked me up, pulling another condom out of my pocket. I had a feeling I knew how the shower was going to go.

* * *

**A/N: **Aug 30- Quick update to fix a previous error. Steph's first panic button from Tony was a bracelet, not a different watch.


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer: **The characters and things you recognize in this story don't belong to me. They belong to Marvel and Janet Evanovich. I'm pretty sure you'll recognize which is which. Mistakes belong to me.

* * *

Chapter 12

_**Steph's POV**_

"You know, you may want to rethink your strategy a little here. Using sex to reward me for near-death experiences might not help me avoid them."

We were sitting on the floor of Steve's shower because, yep, I'd been right about how the shower had gone. In response, Steve just groaned, and his fingers twitched, tightening his grip on my hips momentarily before he dragged me into his body even more.

"Maybe it is your reward for getting back out of the situation. For fighting them off for long enough that we could get to you."

"Deal."

Steve stood us both up, and we proceeded to actually get clean. Maybe some hands wandered, maybe they didn't. Who would judge me if they did? Come to think of it, _I'd_ probably judge _me_ if my hands _didn't _wander! Laughing, Steve batted my hands away, but then counteracted the gesture by giving me one hell of a kiss.

"Steph, Honey, we gotta get upstairs before they send someone down here to get us."

I grumbled a bit, but kept my hands a little more appropriate while we finished cleaning up. Walking around my room a bit, I tried to decide what to put on. When I turned back around after completing another circuit of the closet and dresser, Steve was leaning casually in the doorway watching me and waiting. He looked sinfully delicious with his grey shirt stretched tight across his body and a pair of sweatpants. I think I might have licked my lips because he just laughed and said, "just put on something comfortable, it really shouldn't be too difficult of a decision. We're just going to go talk to everyone for a bit then go to bed."

Smirking at him, I turned my back to him, then dropped the towel from around my body. I grabbed a pair of lace panties with matching bra and slid them on, satisfied by the strangled noise I heard him make. I pulled on a pair of tight yoga capris over them. Wanting to see his reaction to the last piece of my outfit, I turned back around so I was facing him and gave him a big smile before pulling a fitted tank on over my head that had written "I only kiss super heroes" over a montage of the Avengers. Giving him a pat on the cheek, I slid past him in the doorway then went into his bedroom and stole a zip up hoodie from his closet. It was way too big for me, but well worn and so comfortable. I pulled it on over my tanktop, but left it unzipped so that the shirt was clearly visible. Laughing as I walked past Steve again, I grabbed his hand and pulled him to the elevator while he mumbled something that sounded like "death of me".

The first person who saw me when the elevator doors opened was Natasha, and she broke out into a huge smile and full-on laugh. Every conversation in the room ground to a halt and there was silence, other than her laughing, as everyone turned to stare at her in shock. I just smiled at her and she gave me a thumbs up back. Almost as one, everyone turned to follow her gaze and saw me walking in next to Steve. Pepper left out a laugh of her own and gave me a little wink, but when everyone else just stared, Steve said, "nope, can't do it!" then stepped in front of me and zipped his sweater up over the shirt.

"Awwwww, you're no fun!" whined Tony.

Steve grumbled to himself more and I just put on my wide, innocent eyes and asked, "what?" as I walked over and settled myself on the couch. After a few more snickers, Natasha and Pepper walked over and flanked me on the couch.

"He was giving me a difficult time about trying to pick out something to wear," I whispered conspiratorially.

"Well played," replied Pepper and Natasha just tipped her head in agreement.

Probably unwilling to leave us to plot together for too long, the men quickly filed over to us. I was a bit surprised when it was Sam who spoke up first, "how are you feeling, Steph? I kind of doubt a fight like that is something your doctor had in mind for you so soon. Are your ribs okay?"

I noticed Steve's reaction because he'd clearly forgotten about my ribs when we got back, so I looked him dead in the eye as I said, "Honestly, I'm completely surprised to be able to say this, but they feel perfectly fine. No more tender than they have been, so I'm pretty sure I didn't injure them any worse. I'll call the doctor tomorrow morning though so she can do an exam if she'd like and if it will make everyone more comfortable."

At Bucky's confused look, I turned to him and quickly explained how, in addition to the bombs we'd mentioned earlier, I'd been shot a little over three weeks before. His lips pursed hearing this, and he shot Steve a look I couldn't quite read before firing off a series of questions with Natasha and Clint providing the bulk of the answers. Assassins, I reasoned, probably thought similarly enough that he was asking the same types of questions that Natasha and Clint had already asked and gone through several times in their own heads.

Through a huge yawn, I asked, "so what do we still need to go over tonight? I'm tired."

So saying, a bevy of questions were tossed around. Many of them were directed at me, but still more of them were directed at Bucky as he had been outside, though on the other side of the building and a couple buildings away, when things started.

"Early ballistics don't match what we pulled from the shooting a few weeks ago," said Clint.

"Doesn't mean that wasn't Batroc. And the police still need to search Cone's to see if he has any weapons that match," added Natasha.

"Wouldn't be the first time three people wanted to kill me at once," I contributed.

That brought about a few seconds of silence as everyone contemplated the likelihood of the scenario with three different attackers.

"Technically, I don't think Batroc wants to kill you. At least not right away," said Thor.

"Because of me," added Steve.

I pointed my finger at him and said, "oh no, we're not starting that. I'm still beating you two to one for the month."

He held my gaze for a few beats and I held the pointed look I was giving him. We'd had this conversation before. I knew what a relationship with him could mean, and he knew about the dangers of my job. Granted, he may be more difficult to kill, but he wasn't invincible either, so there was a similar amount of danger for him if one of my skips decided to attack him because of me. Everyone was quiet watching us until Steve finally nodded his head.

After a few more minutes of questioning, we were interrupted by the Rangeman contingent entering. I immediately got up and greeted them all, giving Tank and Lester who still looked a little rough around the edges extra attention. I led them both over and settled them into seats before running around and getting them waters and snacks despite their protests that they were fine.

"Little Girl, sit down!" Tank commanded after a few minutes of my fussing. My grumbling teddy bear clearly didn't want me to fuss over him, but I could tell he didn't feel too great in addition to the hurt pride. So, I rolled my eyes and started to go get him a pillow to prop his feet up, and Steve just came up behind me and picked me up before sitting down with me in his lap. I started to protest but then figured that it wasn't just Tony with whom it was better to just choose my battles. When I settled in, I looked around the room and noticed the approving looks on all my Rangemen's faces. Ugh. Men and their stupid testosterone seriously got on my nerves sometimes.

Laughter surrounded me, indicating that I'd slipped up again by speaking my thoughts out loud, but I don't know what they expected of me so late at night. It was well past thinking time, in fact the only thing I'd willingly think about this late at night would be… At that point, Steve was laughing under me again and he reached one of his big hands up and covered my mouth. His hand lingered there for probably longer than necessary, and a shiver went through my body when his moist breath whispered in my ear as he said with a husky voice, "Not that I don't agree, but you got that under control now?"

Silently, I nodded my head and kept my lips firmly clamped shut when his hand lifted away from them. After a few more seconds, the chuckles died down and we continued talking about the night's happenings. At some point, I snuggled further back into Steve and his hand stroking gently up and down my arm lulled me into sleep.

When I woke up, it was with the sun shining, and I had one super soldier sized hand on each breast as well as a deliciously warm mouth latched onto my clit. Before I could even fully register the sensation, Steve had move one hand to slide a couple of his fingers into me and I was tumbling sleepily into orgasm. As soon as the tremors began to wane, Steve slid up my body and pressed himself into me starting up a sinfully slow rhythm. It only took a couple of pumps before I came back to myself enough to wrap my legs around him and meet his thrusts with my own.

The pace wasn't frantic, it was smooth and steady, dragging each movement out slowly for maximum sensation and experience. Our eyes remained locked together until I just had to pull him into me for a sweet kiss. Eventually our arousal wouldn't wait any longer, and we picked up the pace. I dug my nails into his back and he responded my latching his mouth onto my collar bone. The thought crossed my mind that I probably shouldn't be okay with him marking me, but it felt so good that I'd truthfully let him do it any time he wanted. This time when I went over the peak, I dragged Steve over with me.

Gently, Steve dropped kisses all over every inch of my face. He worked his way over to my ear, nibbling on my lobe and whispering, "Happy Birthday, honey." I smiled up at him in response and gave him another big kiss. With a reluctant groan, he pulled away from me to deal with the condom then flopped onto his back and pulled me over onto his chest. I flung my leg over his hip and twined it with his. Steve dropped a kiss on top of my head and we just snuggled together for a bit, dropping off into a little bit of a doze after a while.

I'm not sure how long we lay tangled together like that before Jarvis interrupted, "Happy Birthday, Miss Plum. Mister Stark is loudly requesting your presence upstairs and is becoming more and more insistent about the manner. Miss Potts is having a difficult time keeping him from trying to hack me so that he can break into Mr. Roger's apartment."

"It's my birthday, can't I sleep in as long as I want?"

There was silence for a couple minutes then, "Mr. Stark says, 'no'."

I laughed, "something tells me that isn't all Tony had to say."

"No ma'am, but if it is alright with you, I'd rather not repeat what Mr. Stark had to say verbatim."

Steve sat up and said to me, "he's like a small child sometimes. And he really likes to give presents, so if I had to guess about what the hurry is, I would guess it has to do with birthday presents. But, if you want to sleep in, I'll go deal with him."

At the word "presents" I was torn because, really, none of them should get me presents. But at the same time, part of me that was also like a small child screamed "presents!"

Steve was watching my face and laughing at me before getting up and pulling me with him. "Jarvis, we'll be up in a few minutes, we're just going to take a shower and get dressed."

"Mr. Stark says he is giving you fifteen minutes and then all bets are off."

I tenderly walked to the bathroom, reassuring Steve that I was just a little sore from our awesome sex life which was, admittedly, more robust than any I'd had before. And as it had been a while since I'd had a sex life before we started up, well, things were tender. But I'd be fine by the time we got out of the shower and I loved every minute of it, so he better not stop!

We kept the shower chaste, well, relative to most of our naked interactions at least, and managed to be climbing back out ten minutes later. Steve started getting dressed and I noticed that he'd brought some clothes into his room for me last night. I smiled my thanks and started dressing. The lingerie he'd picked out wasn't the most comfortable or practical, but I couldn't blame him for picking out what he wanted. I slid them on and received a mischievous wink from Steve as he watched.

As I pulled on my jeans, I was trying to figure out what shirt he'd brought me. True, I had a decent number of clothes here thanks to Pepper that I had yet to wear, but I didn't remember seeing this one before.

"I, uh, sort of made that for you last night," said Steve with a huge smile on his face.

"You made me a shirt?"

"Well, I bought the shirt, and I was able to decorate it with permanent markers. It probably won't wash well, but don't worry, I've already ordered a few different styles of it that are properly made for you online. Couldn't have a repeat of last night. And probably you don't need a sweater inside, right?"

I pulled the shirt on then looked down at it, letting out a huge laugh and launching myself at Steve, forcing him to catch me as I kissed the hell out of him.

On a plain white shirt, he had written "I only kiss MY superhero," and then he'd drawn a replica of his shield.

"I'm sorry to interrupt," came Jarvis's voice, "but Mr. Stark has just started counting down from 60 seconds."

We pulled apart and Steve set me back on the ground. We both slipped on some shoes quickly then made our way out to the living room. Seeing an extra marker still sitting out, I grabbed it and said, "come on, you gotta sign your art!" Blushing a little, he put his signature in the bottom right side of the shield before I dragged him out of the apartment and to the elevator.

Holding hands, we walked into the living room noticing not just the Avengers but a good number of Rangemen as well. As soon as Clint looked up and saw us, he said completely deadpan, "do you guys just stay up at night trying to think of ways to be even cuter?"

Of course, this drew everyone else's attention to us and Tony whined, "That's no fair! I liked last night's shirt better. Before the Capsicle hid it, that is. Didn't even let us collect our kisses first!"

"I dunno, I think the _Pièce de résistance_is the hickey peeking out on her neck. Don't think there's any question about whether or not she's taken," added Lester dryly.

"Santos, mats 0500 tomorrow! Babe, happy birthday!"

That set off a chorus of similar wishes from everyone in the room, and I was passed around the room in a round of hugs. I was pleasantly surprised when Tony included himself in the round of hugs because I didn't think that was really his style, so I shot Steve a wink and gave Tony a quick kiss on the cheek laughing at his "whoop" of delight.

Once I'd finally been set back down on my feet, I walked back over to Steve and gave him a quick kiss on the lips. Then I turned back around and said to Tony, "what was so important that you made me get up before noon on what is A) my birthday and B) the weekend?!"

"Presents!" he shouted.

I felt Steve chuckling behind me and turned around to pinch the know-it-all.

"Can I please oh please have some caffeine first?! And maybe some food?"

"You haven't had coffee yet? How on earth did the Captain get you here smiling then, I wonder?"

I rolled my eyes at his continued efforts to get under Steve's skin despite the fact that he'd made it clear he didn't want to discuss that part of our lives with anyone. Nor did I for that matter. So I just shot back at him, "if you really have to ask, I feel sorry for Pepper."

I turned to Pepper and mouthed "sorry!" at her behind my hand, and she just waved me off, laughing with everyone else.

Tony cleared his throat and said, "You really should learn to be less mouthy _before_ you get your presents. Regardless, your precious coffee and food are waiting for you at the location of present #1."

"Oh god, he's numbered them," I whispered to Steve before following Tony to the elevator. "Jarvis will take us there in batches!"

I got into the first group of the elevator and was perplexed when I saw the elevator stop a couple floors down from Steve's. I'd never been on this floor before. The entryway we walked into was a pale blue color and contained just one door in it, much like Steve's. We stopped in front of the door and I just waited patiently. Nobody moved for at least a minute, the second load of people actually got off the elevator while we were still standing there.

I turned to Tony and cocked my head to the side. He looked rather amused, and I could tell he was waiting for me to figure it out, but did he not understand the concept of no coffee. Laughing, Steve grabbed my hand and put it on the biometric reader.

"Huh," I said when the door opened after the scan of my hand was complete. We walked into a huge apartment that had a similarly open entry way to Steve's. It was a truly lovely apartment, decorated a lot like I could imagine decorating mine- if I had a larger bankroll and the ability to paint the walls of an apartment when I rented it. It was filled with balloons and there was what looked like a delicious spread of all kinds of brunch foods piled up all over the huge kitchen and island to the right of the door.

"That looks delicious! Whose apartment are we crashing? Or is this one of the Stark Industries ones?" I asked.

Everyone looked at me funny, and Steve just walked over to the coffee and started fixing me two cups. With amused clearly written across their faces, everyone watched me down the first and then slowly start sipping the second. When it finally dawned on me, I paused with the mug halfway to my mouth and would have dropped it if Steve hadn't totally anticipated my reaction and grabbed it before I could completely let go.

Eyes wide, I turned to Tony and Pepper, "no! You can't. This can't be. I mean, seriously. Because that would be WAY. TOO. MUCH."

Pepper was watching me with a delighted smile on her face and Tony laughed. "Oh, this is going to be such a fun day. And of course I can! It is my building."

"I think you mean, 'we can' and 'our building,' right Tony?" Pepper said.

"Right. Our building. Fifty-fifty. Wouldn't give you credit for any less than that!" Tony quickly replied looking almost panicked. He hurried on, "we already designed it for you, programmed Jarvis to recognize it as your space. And we put in a panic room! Don't have much need for anyone other than you, Pepper, and Jane when she moves in next month to have panic rooms. So it'll just sit empty. Really you're doing us a favor staying here. And if the next words out of your mouth have anything to do with paying rent, I am going to get seriously angry."

I worked my mouth open and shut trying to take it in because really I felt like I needed to at least pay a little bit of rent on it. Knowing it would be useless and just result in angering my new friends and their very nice gesture, I finally nodded and whispered out a "thanks" to them both. Everyone else had wandered off while we had this part of the discussion, "I really. I just can't thank you enough. This is outrageously generous of you."

"We like you Steph, you're part of this messed up family now. You accepted all of us and trusted us without a moment's hesitation which not many people would actually do, especially when the first time they meet us we're geared up for battle. Perhaps more importantly, you see us for who we really are, not just The Avengers, and you treat us all like people. And you've brought a bunch of cousins or whatever to the family with you who are going to be so much fun to play paintball with! And even if things with you and the Cap don't work out, we're keeping you both, so just know that."

I laughed and then gave them both another hug. "I hope you understand, there is a decent chance that I will blow this apartment up."

"Good thing we have about 100 more floors then." replied Pepper.

"You're both crazy."

"Seriously, this is yours. Like you own it. Do anything you want to it, just let Jarvis know what that is and he'll set it up for you. You can also add any groceries you want to the orders that get delivered daily. And Jarvis will work with you to set up a housekeeping schedule that suits your needs. Please take advantage of all that!" added Pepper.

Finally Tony said, "and more than anything, don't worry about the money. For this apartment or anything else that might come your way. I have more money than I can possibly spend in my entire life, so I like to spend it on my family. And Stark Industries has all of the Avengers on payroll now that SHIELD is, I guess you could say under construction. No one is giving you gifts out of obligation, but rather love. Some of us haven't had enough people to love in our lives, or we've lost those we did."

I thought about that and realized that in a lot of ways, it was the same way that the Merry Men felt about me as well. I wasn't sure I'd ever completely understand it, but I could play along with it as it made them all so much happier. And really, I'd do anything for them to be happy.

Steve walked up then holding out a plate of food to me, and I accepted it gratefully, taking the opportunity to blink away the tears. I settled in an open spot on the couch between Lester and Sam, and perched myself on the very front edge of the cushion. I was trying to make sure I didn't spill on the couch, but then I eyed the rug under my feet and had a moment of indecision. Maybe it would be better to spill on the couch.

"They're both yours, Beautiful. You can spill and it'll be okay!"

"I'm still working on believing that, alright? Give me a break! Hey, where do you think I should put Rex?"

"Well, Little Girl, we were wondering." Tank said from across the room, "We've gotten very used to having Rex with us at Rangeman and he makes monitor shifts just a little better. We actually built some habitats into the new Manhattan office and we were hoping you'd let Rex live with us full time. I mean, you'll see him every day you're at the office, right? And that way we get to spend time with him too!"

I thought about it for a while, but I could see the hopeful looks on their faces. Seriously how was it even possible for mercenaries to make puppy eyes that well? And how could they do it so in sync? Also, they really did have a point about monitor duty; it was awful, all of our least favorite shift, and Rex would make it better.

"Ugh, fine. But who am I going to talk to now so that I don't have to talk to myself?!"

"You can always talk to me, Miss Plum."

Everyone kind of eyed the ceiling warily.

"Or any of the rest of us," Natasha said. "Seriously, Jarvis, there's a fine line between sweet and creepy and I'm not sure which side you just fell on, but either way, it was much too close. You should work on that sometime, okay?"

"Thank you, Miss Romanov. I apologize, Miss Plum. I did not mean to make you nervous and rest assured I will keep any conversations we have private unless directed otherwise or in case of emergency."

"Thanks, Jarvis."

We chatted a little while longer before Natasha, Clint, and, to my surprise, Ram stood up and walked over to me. I stared at the three of them together and decided that, as Ram was Rangeman's Weapons Expert, this trio actually kind of made a totally frightening amount of sense.

"Alright, your next present is several presents, and they are distributed throughout the apartment. Think of this as a scavenger hunt."

I paled ever so slightly, "just weapons, no booby traps, right."

Natasha's lips twitched and she shrugged, "guess you're going to have to trust us."

It took me about an hour and I managed to locate 20 weapons throughout the apartment. It actually turned into a really interesting way to explore my apartment, believe it or not. When I gave up, they all praised me and then showed me another dozen or so weapons. Clint was a little disappointed, however, that I hadn't thought to look for and therefore hadn't found any of the weapons in the air vents.

Once we finished, we wandered back into the living room and Pepper was just shaking her head. "Weapons? For a birthday? Seriously?!"

Bucky spoke up for one of the first times of the day and said, "I like it. It says, 'Happy Birthday; I hope you live to your next one.' And helps her achieve that goal."

I nodded my agreement at him, then pondered him for a few seconds. I had a project for him later that I thought he'd be willing to help me with. After conversation had significantly started up again, I made eye contact with him then gestured toward the kitchen.

"Jarvis, please don't inform either Clint or Natasha of this conversation until further notice. Bucky, want to help me with a project? I think you'll enjoy it."

"What do you have in mind?" He asked, not giving anything away.

"Two things. I don't know how much everyone has told you about me yet, but I've had a problem with stalkers, friends and really just people in general breaking in to my apartment in the past. I know this is Stark Tower, but I was wondering if you'd help me assess weaknesses, maybe we could even try to break in one day?"

"And the second?"

"Help me set up some traps in the air vents? Nothing lethal, just for fun? I have a feeling that there might be some 'prank the new kid' ideas floating around, especially with Clint, Natasha, and those air vents."

Bucky broke out into a genuine smile, and said, "it would be my absolute pleasure."

"Awesome, thanks!" I replied giving him a quick hug. As soon as my arms wrapped around him, I felt him tense up. How could I not, it was like hugging a statue. Thinking of what Tony said about not having anyone to love, and the fact that he'd fought to save me last night so I absolutely trusted him, Winter Soldier be damned, I just held on until he started to relax a little. Eventually his non-robotic arm came up and awkwardly patted me on the shoulder.

Steve walked in mid-hug and eyed us warily. "You're not telling her any stories, right Buck?"

"Good idea!" I replied, straightening up.

Before Bucky could respond, Steve said, "oh darn, it'll have to be another time. The doctor is here, Steph. She wants to look you over in your bedroom after last night's events. Is that okay?"

I nodded my head and started out, but I turned back to Bucky and said, "your call if you want to loop your Captain in or not."

That got me a laugh; I was hopeful that The Winter Soldier was gone for good. Or at least as that Bucky had him as under control as Bruce had The Hulk.

_**Steve's POV**_

I watched Stephanie walk away, mesmerized by the way she moved.

"That's a heck of a dame you got yourself there, Steve. I didn't know you had it in you."

"You know, Bucky, I didn't think I had it in me either, but we just fit together. I heard what she asked you to do. As the new person to the tower and someone who has fresher eyes on the security here, you're probably the best choice. Thanks for agreeing."

Bucky just nodded back at me before saying, "I'll probably wait until people start looking less like they think I might try to kill them any second."

"Fair enough. You know I don't think that, right?"

"I know you don't want to think that, but I think it'll take you a while to fully accept it. And I don't blame you- I tried to kill you more than once."

"You also saved my life, and last night, you very likely saved Steph's. That's enough for me."

"What was she talking about when she said that she's had problems with people breaking in to her apartment?"

I leaned against the counter and started telling Bucky the various stories that Stephanie had shared with the rest of us over the course of the time we'd known her. I finished up with the story of the bomb in her apartment the night we met her and Bucky just sat there in stunned silence for several minutes after I finished.

"Well, I see why she asked me for the favor she asked of me. And why they gave her all those weapons as a gift and made her find them all in her apartment. She should be able to get to one quickly now if she needs to for some reason."

I nodded my head in agreement because while I hoped she wouldn't be spending all that much time here alone, if we had to go out for a long mission, it was good to know she'd be able to protect herself if need be.

We walked back out into the living room, passing time talking to everyone else and I waited, nervous, for Steph to come back out with the doctor. When she finally did, I got up and walked over to her, putting an arm around her waist and thanking the doctor for taking the time to see her. We escorted the doctor back out to the elevator and when she was whisked away, we stood in the foyer outside the apartment for a couple minutes alone before we had to head back into the apartment.

"What'd the doctor say?"

"Well, as I keep telling you all, I feel fine, so she was quite pleased. She even removed some of the restrictions she gave me on Friday. For instance, as long as you promise not to crash, I can ride on your bike. Also, shooting range is a go, and I should start back up with some cardio. She'd still prefer no hand-to-hand, but the punching bag is okay. And everything still with the obvious instruction to stop if something hurts."

I grinned hearing that, it really did take a load off my mind. Since we were still alone in the entryway, I gently eased her back into a wall and stole some more kisses from her. My hands were just starting to wander under her shirt to some interesting places when I heard Sam clear his throat and say, "We were wondering what was taking so long, probably should have guessed. I assume the doctor's appointment went well, which is good. But maybe you two could take a break and join the rest of us again?"

After I heard the apartment door shut behind him again, I stole a couple more quick kisses. When she leaned up and whispered into my ear, "I can't wait until everyone leaves tonight and we can break in my new apartment," I groaned and leaned in and stole a few more. I knew I was playing with fire, but I really couldn't help it.

Finally I broke away and said, "let's go back inside before they all just come out here. I really don't want to put on a show for them." Stephanie agreed, so we both went back inside. I was holding her in front of me, not that everyone didn't know what I was hiding, but at least no one commented on it. We settled together on the couch, and a whole bunch of flat, rectangular presents were placed in front of Stephanie from the Rangemen as well as Sam. As she started unwrapping them, they explained that they knew she had an apartment to decorate, and much to her delight, the packages were filled with framed pictures and collages.

I don't know how they'd gotten all of these, and I suspected that the Rangemen had looped Sam in on the present for help accessing some of the pictures that were clearly from Jarvis. There were action shots of Steph and I separately as well as some from us training together. There were pictures of Steph with each Rangeman as well as some with each Avenger. I smiled when I saw that they'd even somehow managed to get a picture printed and in a frame of Steph, Bucky, and I from last night, as well as a couple of each of us with him individually.

She was holding one in particular, staring at it, so I looked to see what had caught her attention. It was a shot through a broken camera lense of me in the Triskelion in DC, holding my shield with a bunch of unconscious men on the floor around me. I snorted out a laugh and Stephanie just asked, "seriously, what the hell happened here. There have to be at least ten guys on the ground at your feet."

I tried to just shrug it off with a nothing, really, when Natasha got up and started typing on a keyboard connected to Jarvis. "That was Steve's S.T.R.I.K.E. team. Or at least, he thought they were his team probably until just before then. He'd just refused to give up information to Alexander Pierce on the shooting of Nick Fury."

Sometimes it was kind of nice that there was really no re-classifying of data since Natasha had leaked it all. Suddenly a video started playing on the TV of the empty elevator. I rolled my eyes and said, "seriously?"

Natasha shot back, "hell yeah. Once SHIELD is back up and running, if I'm involved in training the new recruits in combat, this video is going to be required watching."

The big screen was split into multiple camera angles and we watched as I got on the elevator, slowly being joined by each of the men from the team. You could see me noticing various things, like the man with his hand on this gun, how nervous some of the men were, etc. Each time I noticed something new, each of the Merry Men tensed up a little more. When the last one stepped on the elevator, I heard Ranger curse right before video-me said, "Before we get started, does anyone want to get out?"

There were a few chuckles around the room when they heard that and Stephanie just stiffened up in my lap and tightened her hands that were holding onto my arms around her. It was kind of weird watching the video, as I'd actually never seen it before. Everything happened so much faster than I remembered. Stephanie gave one final wince as we watched me throw Rumlow into the ceiling and him hit the floor uncomfortable.

"Nothing personal, my ass. Bastards." She bit out. I just hugged her close and was surprised when the video didn't stop after I picked up my shield and we got to the point the picture in her frame had come from. We watched as I opened the doors only to be confronted with another team before quickly severing the elevator cables and sending it into a freefall before the emergency brakes kicked in. When there was another team was waiting for me on that floor and I pushed the door stopped, I could almost hear Stephanie's thoughts as she mentally put all the pieces together.

"Oh, this is when…"

She was cut off by Lester's "shhh!" and we watched on the video as I took a few steps out then jumped out of the elevator and out of view of the cameras. The feed immediately switched to the lobby where I dropped through the ceiling and landed on the ground on top of my shield before shakily getting up and running away. Again, I expected the video to end but wasn't too surprised this time when we switched to a view from the bridge checkpoint. I was flying toward the camera on my bike, shield on my back, when a plane came down and told me to stand down before shooting at me. I flew off my bike, onto the plane using my shield to take it down. The video ended as the plane crashed into the camera.

There was silence in the room for a few beats and I shifted nervously, but Steph just squeezed my hand and whispered "nice work!" as the rest of the room reacted.

"I'm sorry you had to do that, but that was completely bad ass," said Lester. Everyone added their agreement and I shrugged it off saying, "just doing what had to be done."

"Yeah, you can definitely be in charge of Steph's hand to hand combat training," said Ranger.

"Hey!" cried Natasha, and faster than lightning, her fingers were on the keyboard before she pulled up a video of her infiltrating a Hammer building. Happy was with her and while he was fighting one guard in the lobby, we watched as the video progressed between security cameras and Natasha ran through the building, completely infiltrating it and taking out 11 security guards in what I calculated as just under 60 seconds. I think mine was still a tiny bit faster, but still, I'd had them in a confined space.

That too was met with complete silence before Ranger amended, "right, _both_ of you are in charge of Steph's hand to hand combat training."

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**A/N: **Sorry for the wait and that this is a bit shorter than the other chapters I've been spoiling you with lately. I figured this was a good place to stop it though, and that you might like an update sooner rather than waiting for me to add another 1500 or so words to it. :) Let me know if I was wrong about that! Hope you enjoy this chapter as much as I did!


	13. Chapter 13

**Disclaimer: **The characters and things you recognize in this story don't belong to me. They belong to Marvel and Janet Evanovich. I'm pretty sure you'll recognize which is which. Mistakes belong to me.

**A/N (and warning):** I haven't been too explicit about this before, but I mention something in this that might still be a spoiler to some (especially if they haven't seen Marvel's Agents of Shield). So in that case, you might want to skip the third paragraph of a certain special guest POV (that's right, another person who isn't Steve or Steph demanded to have his or her POV heard) talking about his or her history with Steve. Although, I kinda suggest just reading it and ripping the bandaid off, because I have a feeling it will come up again.

* * *

Chapter 13

_**Steph's POV**_

After watching the video of Steve taking on the S.T.R.I.K.E. team in the elevator, I felt oddly more comfortable with the idea of dating someone like him. Yes, it was further proof that what he did was dangerous, but it also made me feel even better about his ability to take care of himself. Not to mention the fact that he took out a jet that was shooting machine guns at him. Similarly, while I already knew Natasha was awesome, I was way more impressed with her and happy, as well as intimidated, to be learning from her. And glad that she often provided Steve backup when he was on missions.

Glancing around the room at everyone gathered, I thought back to what Tony said about family. These people gathered around, getting to know one another because they were all important to me were a family of mine. We may not be related through blood, but I'd walk through fire for any of them if I needed to.

Before too much longer, Ranger, Tank, Bobby, Lester, and Hector were standing in front of me expectantly. I gathered they'd said something to me, but I'd been too lost in thought to realize it.

"Sorry, what?" I smiled up at them.

"Present time," said Bobby, reaching out a hand to pull me up off Steve.

Pointing to all the pictures in their gorgeous frames, I said, "but…"

"Those were from the others, including those who couldn't make it. We have something for you from the five of us."

Sighing I took Bobby's hand and let him pull me to my feet, "you better not have gone overboard."

When the most reaction I got to that was a smile from Lester, I started to say something, but the look I saw Tony giving me just made me shut my mouth and follow them to the elevator. No one said anything when we got in, but JARVIS seemed to know where to take us. After we'd passed twenty something floors, I figured out where we were going.

"You know it is just going to get blown up, right?"

"Which is why we got really good insurance on it. And as long as you're not in it when it blows up, no one will be upset." Ranger replied. "To be clear though, this is your personal car. We have another set aside for you as a company car. Both cars have a whole host of extra security upgrades. Which is why, as much as is possible, you won't be using one of the regular fleet cars. We're hoping that with both vehicles spending most of their time in secured garages, they'll have slightly longer life expectancies, but we accept the inevitable."

Briefly, I considered getting offended at the term "inevitable" but really, it was true, so as long as they understood that, we were good. My mind started wandering wondering what kind of car they'd gotten me as my personal car. If I had a car for work, it didn't necessarily have to be an SUV or anything, but I kind of preferred those since I often ran into skips off duty as well. I'd really liked both my Rav4 and my Escape, so maybe they'd gotten me one of those.

As soon as the elevator doors opened and I saw what was sitting a short ways away with a big bow on it, I realized that I really should have known better. Those wouldn't have been nearly expensive enough, I thought with a mental eyeroll. Because sitting in front of me was a bright blue Porsche Cayenne Turbo, and if I knew my guys, it had every bell and whistle possible to add to it.

"Your Rangeman one is black, of course, but we thought you might enjoy some color instead for your personal. Plus, we didn't want you to get them mixed up," explained Tank.

Rather than fighting them on it, I just gave each of them a big hug and a thank you before walking over to it and running my hand reverently along its sides. This was the one I usually chose when I was picking between Ranger's to borrow. In the beginning, it'd been the 911, but after a while, I'd grown to like the Cayenne more. And they'd figured it out, of course, those smug sons of bitches.

I opened the door, looking around inside before climbing into the drivers seat. I wasn't going anywhere, but I couldn't resist turning the key just to hear it roar to life. As soon as it did so, I noticed the seat and mirrors shifting around until everything was at the perfect setup for me. This gave me a few moments pause, and I turned and looked at the guys out the open door and saw Ranger's lips twitch. Fucking Batman. Laughter abounded around me. Whoops.

Just a few seconds of starting to fiddle with everything, I jumped when I heard JARVIS say, "hello again, Miss Plum. Mr Stark has programmed me into the car for your convenience, I do hope that's alright."

"More than, my friend, more than."

"Very good, Miss Plum."

"Still can't get you to call me Steph?"

"I'm afraid not, Miss Plum."

"Alright, then." I turned the car back off and climbed out, walking back over to where the full group had assembled watching me.

"We made some additional modifications to it," explained Lester, "The body and glass are all bulletproof and impact resistant courtesy of some Stark Industries materials. That's also why you so easily got a custom paint color. In addition to the bomb detection capabilities of your watch and phone that Mr. Stark gave you, we felt it wise to also install something on the car itself which is also hooked up to JARVIS. Oh, and the entire thing has been rollover reinforced as well."

"Same goes for your work vehicle," added Bobby. "Oh, and there's a fire extinguisher installed in the trunk of each car."

"And then I got my hands on them," Tony said gleefully. "Let's just say, should the need arise, JARVIS has several options for more offensively protecting you and helping you evade those who might be trying to harm you. Trackers on your personal vehicle will only be activated in case of theft or kidnapping. Trackers on your work vehicle, are standard Rangeman trackers."

"And none of this feels excessive to any of you?" I asked, casting my eyes around the gift-givers, Tony, and then the rest of the room, getting head shakes in response. Blowing out a breath, I choked out, "fine. Thanks again!"

So saying, this triggered another round of happy birthday wishes and hugs from the Rangemen before they all left. The rest of us climbed back into the elevator and went up to the common floor. Sitting in the living room were more boxes. This time, a smiling Thor and Bruce guided me to a seat and then started bringing me boxes. As soon as I grabbed the first one, I knew based on the size, shape, and weight what was in it and the rest of them.

"Pepper and Ella helped us with these," Bruce said.

"Aye. I asked my Lady Jane to help as well, though she told me Pepper was the ultimate master of the subject."

From the corner of my eye, I could see Pepper preen at this information, but I was way too excited to say anything else before greedily ripping into the paper. I pulled the first box open, and groaned. Louboutin. I took a deep smell of the leather and then ran them across my cheek and said, "pretty."

Clint laughed and said, "better watch out, Steve. I think she likes those shoes more than you!" I'm pretty sure there was some playful shoving after that, but I couldn't be bothered to pay attention to anything but the boxes in front of me.

I opened box after box of high end shoes. There were pumps, flats, platforms, sandals, wedges, boots. All in a variety of types and colors. There were even a few in boxes without labels made of material like I'd never seen before. When I looked up at Thor questioningly he told me they were Asgardian made. If I could have seen myself in a mirror, I'm sure my eyes would have been lit up with absolute glee. Finally done opening the boxes, I jumped up giving Bruce and Thor huge, enthusiastic hugs.

With a laugh, Tony said, "notice she doesn't even try to tell them this gift is too much."

"Because I'm not a saint! My name is Stephanie Plum, and I'm a huge shoe addict!" I said, "is it possible to get a fireproof, bomb-proof safe installed in my closet for these? I'm talking like the stuff they make those black boxes on airplanes out of or something!"

Everyone seemed to take that as a joke, even though I was completely serious. Oh well, I'd just ask JARVIS about it another time. With everyone's help, I carted the shoes upstairs, and they watched, amused, as I fiddled with them all, arranging and rearranging them for best display as well as functionality when choosing between them in my giant closet. As I looked around the closet, I noticed several purses which upon closer inspection had pockets in them for concealed carry, as well as dresses and more clothes that I hadn't seen before. I just looked at Pepper and Natasha and they shrugged with mysterious smiles on their faces. I just smiled back and them and nodded my thanks.

We wandered back out into the living room and everyone slowly filtered out, telling me that they'd see us in at one for lunch. Tony called out to us not to be late and I quickly agreed. I turned back from the door after shutting it behind them and was startled to see that Steve had disappeared. Calling out to him, I followed the sound of his voice back into the bedroom where there was another selection of presents sitting on my bed to unwrap. The first, slightly heavy one, was a jewelry box filled with some very nice pieces of jewelry.

After studying each one with a smile on my face, I instructed him to put on the one with the pendant modeled after his shield on me. At one point, I asked if I was going to win the "too much" argument with him, and he just smiled and kissed me then shook his head. The next box I opened was small, and what was tucked inside took my breath away. I wasn't an expert, but they looked old. When I raised my eyes to his, the question written clearly on my face, he said, "I have newer ones now, and I can give you a set of those or have some custom made if you want. But these are my dog tags from World War II. The set I was wearing when they found me on the ice. I'd be honored if you'd keep them and remember that I'm always coming back to you. You don't have to wear them or anything if you don't want-"

I cut him off with a kiss. Then I reached back and took off the necklace he'd just placed on me. I threaded the shield charm off of it's delicate chain, grateful when it fit over the bulkier ball chain and slid on top of the dog tags. Then I pulled it around my neck and gave him a pointed look over my shoulder until he fixed the clasp on for me. Voice choked with emotion I held his face in my hands and looked him in the eyes and said, "I'm only taking them off when absolutely necessary." Then I pulled him into another deep kiss filled with love.

The rest of the presents got unceremoniously shoved off the bed as he slid me further onto it and joined me. His body was pressing me fully into the mattress and before long we were breaking in the bed.

An hour later, we'd christened the shower as well and I was feeling very, very happy. I walked over to the dresser to start getting dressed, and Steve just tugged on my arm and brought me over to the couch. That's right, my insanely big bedroom had a couch. Actually, it had two, but this one was at the foot of the huge bed. I was feeling a little self conscious about the fact that I was sitting on the couch naked except for the dog tags, but Steve just kissed that nervousness away. Then he started handing me more presents.

I realized why he'd insisted on me not getting dressed yet as each remaining box revealed a set or multiple sets of delicate underwear. He was blushing a little as he told me that he'd gotten Natasha's help with them. For the most part they managed to be soft and sensual as well as functional, though there were a few more risque sets thrown in there as well. The look on his face when I opened some of them made me wonder if maybe she'd snuck in some extras without asking. Though it also seemed that he approved of them.

I made a comment about how they were very nice, though I probably didn't need that many when he fixed me with a "Captain America" look and said that he just wanted me to be prepared before his face morphed into a very predatory look and his tone became husky as he added, "in case they get ripped or something." I gulped, and bit into my bottom lip thinking it was a good thing I hadn't put any on yet or they'd be ruined before I flung myself at him and let's just say the bedroom carpet got tested out as well.

Very soft. Somehow doesn't cause rugburn. Whoever made this carpet blend was probably filthy rich from that fact alone.

Mentally going through what I'd discovered in the closet so far, I watched as Steve started putting the clothes he'd had on earlier.

"Are we leaving the Tower?"

Pleasantly surprised when he answered in the affirmative, I asked "casual" and was also given a nod at that. I wandered into the closet, still not dressed, and looked around. I found a section of Stark body armor, and pulled out one that would fit nicely under a silky cream colored top I'd seen earlier. I grabbed a pair of dark jeans and chocolate boots and matching leather jacket and carried them out to the bed. Then I pulled out a cream lingerie set from the presents and pulled those on.

Steve stole a few kisses before pulling away and taking several steps back. He stared at me for a few more seconds then told me he'd be in the living room waiting for me. Guess he figured that was the safer way of guaranteeing we'd be on time. I quickly got dressed then went back into the closet into the small weapons safe that was installed there, chatting to Jarvis as I went through it.

I asked Jarvis to give access to my floor, through the front door and elevator only, to each of the Avengers as well as Pepper, Sam, and Bucky and to please give them all this information. I did, however, ask to be notified when possible that they were on their way and not to let them in unless it was an emergency when privacy mode was enabled. I also set up my panic room access code and told him to have Steve set one up as well.

After Steve checked over my weapons and armor, we went up to the common floor and were glad to see that we weren't the last ones to arrive. When we walked down to the garage hand in hand, Steve started off toward my new Cayenne, clearly surprised when I tugged him over to his bike instead, giving him puppy dog eyes when he resisted.

"The doctor said it is okay."

"But… bulletproof," he replied pointing toward the car. I continued to hit him with the sad eyes until he relented and I clapped my hands in delight. It had been much too long. After our usual helmet and shield routine, I hugged Steve's waist and we were off, followed by the Avengers and company in various vehicles as well as Rangemen, who had come back to join us and offer additional security. I don't know how many guards they thought I needed, but this seemed excessive, so I decided it was just because they wanted to keep celebrating my birthday with me. This year had definitely been over the top as far as celebrating was concerned.

The rest of the day flew by with a lot of fun and thankfully no violence. We had a delicious lunch of BBQ food in the event room of a well-known restaurant in Manhattan, dealt with the requisite fan presence on our way back out, and then Steve and I went for a scenic ride around before heading back to Avenger's tower. When plans started getting thrown around for places to go for dinner, I expressed my gratitude of their willingness to take me out again, but asked if we could just order pizza and watch some movies with it instead. We compromised by going out for pizza and then having an ice cream and movie party when we got back. I was happy when everyone agreed that we didn't need to have a wild and crazy night out until the wee hours. I was happy to spend the bulk of the night in because this was home for me now, and I couldn't be happier about it.

The next morning, I was brimming with excitement. Time to get back to training and to work. After my long absence, I was more than ready.

_**Natasha's POV**_

If anyone were to call me on it, I'd vigorously deny it, but the weekend spent spoiling Steph for her birthday was actually rather enjoyable. I'd begun working as a spy when I was just a young girl, and as a result, well, I didn't have a lot of friends. Honestly, I didn't have any for a very long time. Clint was the first, though our friendship and partnership sprouted from me feeling as though I owed him a debt of gratitude.

From our time spent together had sprung a deeper relationship than just a friendship. A romantic one. We had a lot of shared experiences, and we knew each other better than anyone else. Our relationship just worked, and there was no one in the world I trusted more. I was unsure of my ability to truly love, but Clint was sure both that I was able to love and that I already loved him. To date, his conviction in the matter was more than enough to see our relationship through, and I was certain this would remain the case even if I was never able to say the words "I love you" to him.

Tony, Pepper, and I are varying degrees of friendly. Pepper and I get along fairly well stemming from our time spent working together to try to wrangle Tony during a dark and reckless period of his life. Although I believe we would have easily been friends if I really just had been an administrative assistant at Stark Industries, it was clear that though she appreciated my help in saving Tony, she didn't appreciate the manner in which I went about helping. As a result, I wasn't sure that she'd ever trust me enough to be a friend.

Tony and I had settled some things after the Battle of New York, but our friendship was still strained. He respected me, and we could fight together. But he still didn't fully trust me after I infiltrated his company. He was generous and provided us all with anything we could possibly need. Without a doubt, he did care about us, but he made a point to keep me, in particular, at arms length. Honestly, I didn't blame him. Only time would tell if he would ever drop the grudge and become a truly trusting friend. I was hopeful though that if I could get Tony or Pepper to drop their grudge and welcome me as a friend one day, that the other would follow suit.

Bruce and Thor were my teammates. After being attacked in the helicarrier, I was still a bit wary around Bruce, and I knew he understood the reason. With that standing between us, I wasn't sure how we'd ever manage to be particularly close. Perhaps if I solidified a friendship with Tony, one with Bruce would follow suit. After all, those two did seem to be quite close. Thor had never really been on Earth much, so it was difficult to get to know him. As he was starting to be around more, I was slowly being able to begin to cultivate that relationship. At this point, however, we didn't know each other well and I couldn't say we were friends. Friendly, sure, but friends, no.

When Fury had first switched me over from working on solo missions or with Clint to partnering with Steve, I had been very upset. I felt a little as though I was being punished and forced to babysit someone who didn't belong in our time and who was much too by-the-rules to be effective in an espionage-driven organization like SHIELD.

Within just a few weeks of working together it became clear that this was not the case. Steve actually picked up technology and the modern world quite well once he was given the freedom to explore it after fighting with The Avengers in New York. Apparently, SHIELD really hadn't provided him the time or resources to do so before that. Once we started working together and I understood him and his situation more, I made sure he had his Army back-pay (which added up to a lot of money), so that he'd never be completely reliant on SHIELD again. Then I'd set him up with my financial consulting company to make sure that the pot was steadily growing.

That alone was probably one of the actions I've taken in my life of which I was most grateful after the details of HYDRA's infiltration of SHIELD became clear. I believe it provided Steve the flexibility to make the absolutely correct call that all of SHIELD needed to be burned to the ground. And somehow despite the moments that strained our relationship (like differing missions that I hid from him on the Lumerian Star and his initial attempts to lie to me after Fury's shooting), we had ended up friends. He was hands down my best friend other than Clint. I still wasn't sure that espionage was the right "business" for Steve, but since SHIELD was currently down and only slowly being rebuilt by Coulson (that's right, he's alive!), that wasn't likely to be an issue for a while.

Sam I trusted after everything that he helped with in Washington D.C., even though we were being labeled as traitors by the world. I was confident that he was loyal to us, especially Steve, and trustworthy. Someone being willing to die for something you said was right and entrusting you with the plan for their survival when they'd just barely met you was humbling. And the help that he gave Steve while trying to track down Bucky had furthered my confidence in his trustworthiness. In fact, I had plans to discuss with Tony and Steve, then the others, about officially adding him to The Avengers. If he was interested. Either way, he was around enough that I was sure we'd be great friends before too long.

And Bucky, well, Bucky was still a highly unknown variable. For now I'd just observe and bide my time. I didn't have to make a decision yet.

Finally there was Stephanie Plum. As soon as I had seen her with Steve that first night, I'd been struck by how well they just seemed to fit together. Tony had provided her name to us after he arrived in Trenton and while we were still in flight. We'd taken a few extra minutes before reaching Trenton to run a FULL check on her. Using both SHIELD's databases as well as everything JARVIS could find. I'd been concerned at first about her relationship with Ranger and his men, but both she and Clint had done a remarkable job of reassuring me on that front. So I'd done something I'd never done before, _I'd_ made the first move toward friendship.

Sure, I wanted her for Steve because he was my best non-Clint friend and I thought she'd be good for him and he for her. But I also wanted her as a friend for myself. My instincts rarely, if ever, let me down about a person's true nature, and they were telling me she was special. As I'd slowly allowed a handful of people closer to me, I'd realized that a true female friend was really something I was missing, so when I'd met Stephanie, I decided. She would be my friend. Like a sister to me. If everyone thought that it was because of Steve, that was fine, but I knew the truth, I was selfishly taking her friendship for myself because _I_ needed it.

So, I'd talked Clint into spending a bunch with me on spa treatments, outfits, and weapons as presents for her and to help me make her feel welcome. It really hadn't taken much to convince him because he trusted the Rangemen and they trusted her, and he knew that I needed a friend. He thought, and probably rightly so, that if I became really close to another person, it would only help our relationship, help me begin to open up even more. And I'd helped our other teammates who really wanted to do something special for her and were at a loss come up with their presents. When Steve told me about the presents he was wanting to get for her, I helped him out and pushed him in the right direction when necessary.

I could tell my plan was working, Stephanie and I were starting to get to know each other more and more. Frankly it terrified me to allow someone to mean so much to me, especially someone who was, at least compared to me, an unskilled civilian. The idea of her going back into the office today frightened me, as I am sure it did Steve, and suspect it may have others, especially Clint, as well. I felt slightly better knowing she wouldn't be going out in the field yet in a new city, but she hadn't been "in the field" when she'd been shot either.

So I arrived at the gym extra early, working out some of my stress and worry, something I'd never allowed into my mind on behalf of someone else's welfare, other than Clint, before. And while I was doing that, I mentally figured out how hard I could push her each day without leaving her too depleted to defend herself if necessary. And with that in mind, I prioritized the skills that she was going to need to learn so that she'd learn the most instantly valuable and important first. Still, perhaps she'd let some of us come into the office today, or every day, as long as we didn't have to leave on a mission.

With all of this in mind, I looked up as she and Steve walked into the gym, followed shortly by Clint. When Stephanie stripped down to her sports bra and got on the treadmill, I couldn't stop the smile at what I saw. She was wearing the shield pendant I'd helped Steve get made, but it was off of the beautiful, delicate chain I'd picked out and instead was paired with dog tags. If I wasn't mistaken, they weren't just any dog tags, rather Steve's original dog tags. I searched his face as he stared at them, able to see all his emotions on his face. And I was able to just as easily read hers when she caught what his attention was focused on. Good. We were going to be keeping my friend.

Maybe I should hide the condoms, just to be sure. After all, I'd seen them with Lacey in the park yesterday.

No… I suppose that wouldn't be nice.

_**Steve's POV**_

Despite everything that had happened, the weekend flew by and we were facing Monday morning before I was ready for it. When I woke up in Stephanie's room and found her sleeping in nothing but my tags, it took my breath away. I knew I was in love and I had been pretty certain she was it for me, but in that moment, there was no longer even the smallest hint of a question about it in my mind. It would just be a matter of making sure she saw that as well. And a part of me that was still the skinny kid I'd been before the serum that couldn't get any women to give him the time of day was worried that I wouldn't be able to do so.

I went out to the kitchen to start the coffee and make sure there were some granola bars we could grab for a quick breakfast before going to the gym before heading back into the bedroom. I knew that she'd been a little sore yesterday, but she'd also made it abundantly clear that she didn't want that to slow us down any now that we'd finally been able to escalate our physical relationship.

With that in mind, walking back into the bedroom, I stripped the sheets completely away from her. I slowly crawled onto the bed, so that I hopefully wouldn't wake her by shifting the bed too much. It was, though, one of those marshmallow beds that I'd had such a difficult time adjusting to when I first woke up, so it didn't shift too much. Once I was laying next to her, and before making any moves to touch her, I took a few minutes to just take in the sight of her. I was taking a mental picture, knowing that this moment would be one that I captured in my new sketchbook, one that I'd bought while out shopping for Stephanie's birthday presents and set aside for sketches of a more _personal_ nature, before too long.

For the life of me, I couldn't figure out why she grumbled about looking frightening in the mornings. She'd mentioned that some of the Rangemen had called here as much, and it absolutely baffled me. She was 100% gorgeous in the morning. Sure, her curls were in disarray and even more wild, but truthfully, I loved it. There was something about her hair being so completely out of control that just suited her. When I saw her like that, I felt like I was getting to see her essence without a single defense, intentional or just automatic, up. And I loved getting to see that side of her.

I knew that while plenty of people would have rushed into the physical side of a relationship much more quickly than we had, more would find the emotional connection we'd forged and the fact that we'd already confessed our love for each other more strange. I did regret the reason why we'd had to wait so long to make love, but I didn't regret getting to know her more before we reached that point. Despite knowing that we shouldn't pay any attention to it, we'd both seen plenty of internet and television speculation around us already "living together" and so many hateful, judgmental words that were spewn about it. Rather than being offended by the sharpness of the comments that some would make, however, I chose to just be grateful that we'd gotten to experience something that others weren't so lucky to experience. This woman, bedhead and all, was my future, and I couldn't be more excited for it.

I continued to stare at her, and just soak in the comfort that her presence brought me. But, knowing we were actually on some sort of schedule this morning, I woke her up before too long. Much like I had yesterday, I chose to wake her up by making slow, gentle love to her because I couldn't stop myself and I knew neither of us wanted me to. Steph had made _that_ abundantly clear after the movie last night. When she got up to start getting ready for the day, I wandered back out into the kitchen to grab coffee before taking it to her.

Back in the kitchen, I leaned against the counter drinking my own coffee and thinking about the day ahead of us. Although I was more than a little nervous about it, I knew Steph really did need to go into the office. She'd been gone for too long and was beyond mentally ready to be back into a normal routine. Being idle for any length of time didn't seem to sit well with her. We'd talked it over a few times, and I was certain that she was going to be smart and not test her limits too much too fast in regards to her recovery. Similarly, I knew she was going to be careful about Batroc and the fact that we weren't sure if _another_ shooter was still out there.

Watching her walk toward me in her gym clothes, with her gun strapped on, I couldn't help but smile at her and grab her when she tried to sneak past me into the kitchen for more coffee without stopping. I cut off any protests she might be offering with a kiss before handing her an already prepared travel mug so she could drink the coffee and eat her granola bar in the elevator on the way down. We fell into stride and I realized that any morning that started out this way would be a gift.

As we entered the gym and Stephanie started getting ready to work out, I was momentarily distracted again by the sight of her necklace- I wasn't even really sure why I was so obsessed with the sight, but I was willing to accept it and move on. Well, as much as I could move on while still being completely consumed by the knowledge and sight of her wearing it, that is. I caught Natasha's smile and made my way over to her as Steph and Clint began their run.

"I see you added something to your presents after we talked."

"I've always got a few tricks up my sleeve, you should know that by now, Tasha."

"She seems pleased about it."

"Yes, but maybe not as pleased as I am that she's wearing them."

"I wouldn't say that. I think you're on pretty even footing."

"I noticed you snuck a few things into my present stack as well."

"You're welcome."

I laughed, "thankfully she didn't seem to take it the wrong way, that I only want one thing from her"

"She already knew that, and even if she somehow didn't, I think the tags make that perfectly clear."

Taking a deep breath, I asked, "You're going to help me keep her, right?"

At that Natasha startled me by spinning me around to face her. "You will do just fine on your own. I know that, and you need to believe that. But if you do end up needing me, I'll be there for you. Once partners, always partners, no matter what Sam says. I've got your back."

I was grateful to hear that. Although I knew Sam had said he'd be there for anything I needed and to help me out, I felt sure that having a woman's perspective available to me down the road would be incredibly valuable.

From there we moved on to discussing Steph's training needs for the day, and in general. Satisfied with the decisions we made, we settled into some light sparring while waiting for Steph to finish up her run. For the most part, I observed while Natasha worked with Steph, offering suggestions when I had them but mostly just keeping mental notes of her strengths and areas she needed to work on. Once Natasha was done with the hand to hand training, I ran Steph through some routines with weights and the punching bag before walking her back to the elevator and making plans to meet back up on the common floor in half an hour.

Within 10 minutes, I was upstairs and pacing the living room endlessly. Everyone was giving me a wide berth until Sam came in, took one look at me, and said, "Cap, you have got to chill out before Steph gets here."

I paused to look over at him and give him a curt nod before I resumed pacing. Steph wouldn't be upstairs for at least another 15 minutes, so I still had time to pace out the nervous energy.

When Bucky walked in, he took one look at me before walking over, grabbing me by the back of my shirt and pulling me over to the breakfast bar. He forced me into a stool then walked into the kitchen, eyes warning me not to get back up from the stool.

To my surprise, Bucky set a large glass of one of those protein drinks in front of me before he started making himself breakfast. Sparing a glance over his shoulder, he just said, "what is it?"

"She's going in to work today. The last time she did, a sniper shot her."

"Okay. How is she getting there?"

Stephanie walked in just then, "I figured I'd drive in my bulletproof car from this garage to the office. I'm not sure whether or not the garage is set up there yet, but I'll call Ranger and find out in a few minutes."

Bucky looked over at her, nodded, then told her, "give me the address and a fifteen minute head start and I'll set up for the day."

Stephanie had a puzzled look on her face and opened her mouth, presumably to ask what Bucky was going to set up when Clint just said, "Counter-sniper. I'm going to go set upon the roof here to provide cover for your exit. I'll leave before you at the end of the day to do the same when you come home," before heading out to the elevator.

"Give Bucky 30 minutes," added Tony before turning to Bucky, "I've got some tools to give you so you can keep in contact with the team."

The look in Bucky's eyes said he didn't need, or particularly want a team, but he nodded his head in agreement anyway and followed Tony to the elevator.

Natasha walked up to Steph and poked her, presumably to check that she was wearing her body armor before she said, "you're going to let some of us come with you today." Her tone suggested that she was telling Steph rather than asking.

"Right. You're not going to be able to always do this though. We'll need to come up with a long-term strategy if we don't catch whoever is after me soon."

Nobody really responded to that, other than Natasha giving her a placating pat on the arm. I reached out and pulled her to me before going through what was becoming our at least daily, sometimes more frequent, routine weapons check. Satisfied with what I found, I dropped a kiss on her lips and asked what she wanted for breakfast. When she responded that she wanted more coffee, I handed her a banana and a muffin instead, only handing her more coffee after she finished those.

We all listened as she called in to Ranger and found out what the current security situation at Rangeman Manhattan was. There was still construction being finished before they could fully set up the building's security and the garage wasn't quickly accessible. Planning ahead, Ranger had men on standby to come pick Steph, and whoever was joining her for the day, up so that she wouldn't have to park her Porsche exposed or walk from a parking spot goodness knows how far away. We talked and killed time to give everyone a chance to set-up before Tank arrived to drive us to the office. We decided that just Steph, Natasha, and I would go in with him. Clint was planning to follow behind us.

When we walked into Rangeman's new office building and got Stephanie safely away from windows, we all let out sighs of relief. Upstairs on the control room floor, we were greeted enthusiastically- or at least Stephanie was. The men had gotten less hesitant toward me, but we weren't exactly friends yet. And no one was confident enough to greet Natasha in at all the same way they did Stephanie. Most of them were too scared to even acknowledge her. By the time Stephanie circled back around, Hector had started a big projector against a white wall, and by the somewhat alarming grin he had on his face, I knew we were in for trouble.

The lights switched off and we were treated to "Stephanie's Birthday Weekend: A Tony Stark and Lester Santos Supercut". Which turned out to be clips of all the "news" coverage that had aired over the weekend interspersed with commentary added by our friends. It was actually quite funny and made me, and it seemed Stephanie as well, see the hilarious side to the paparazzi and just laugh about it. It also made it clear that our friends didn't agree with what was being said about us, and they were going to support us.

The rest of the day passed quickly. We got a tour of the new building and could see the progress that would be made over the next couple of weeks. Among the rooms that were finished first, however, were the gym, gun range, and an extra, bare room.

Ranger explained that they would use this as an "indestructible" multi-purpose room where they could drag in pads for combat training, do some escape training for Steph and anyone else who needed a refresher, and anything else the Avengers could think of when we were visiting- as long as we promised not to level the building. As it was, Steph spent an hour in the gun range with Clint, and half an hour working with me and my shield. Anytime Stephanie was busy, we would occupy ourselves, but I also made a point to strike up conversations with the Rangemen in the hopes of getting to know them better. After all, they were family to Stephanie, so they were important to me.

For lunch everyone gathered back on the control room floor, as the break room wasn't ready yet, and passed around takeout containers until everyone had their fill. That was when Ranger let Stephanie know that Ella and Luis had requested a transfer to Manhattan and would be joining the new office soon. Steph spent most of the afternoon learning how to get out of handcuffs of various types and in different situations.

When we finally made it home in time to have dinner with all the Avengers, I was grateful that we'd made it through the first day. I knew we couldn't let the lack of attack allow us to become complacent, but at the same time, I was just so relieved. Every day we successfully made it through would make the next just a little bit easier. And if and when the call came in for a mission, it would make it just a tiny bit more tolerable to leave her behind and trust that she'd be okay when I got home.


	14. Chapter 14

******Disclaimer: **The characters and things you recognize in this story don't belong to me. They belong to Marvel and Janet Evanovich. I'm pretty sure you'll recognize which is which. Mistakes belong to me.

* * *

Chapter 14

_**Steph's POV**_

Steve and I collapsed sideways on the bed, tangled in and wrapped around each other, trying to catch our breaths. Truth be told, I was more than a little proud of myself that I could make a super soldier out of breath. When I felt a little less like my heart was going to leap out of my chest, I opened my eyes to see Steve watching me, and I couldn't stop a huge grin from breaking out across my face. Before too long, Steve was sporting a matching grin. It took me a couple minutes longer to dredge up enough energy to move. I reached my hand up to stroke along Steve's cheek.

"I love you, Steve," I choked out feeling oddly emotional. "I don't understand how it just keeps becoming more."

"It's the same for me," he replies before pulling me in for another kiss with his hand stroking my back slowly. Reverently.

When the kiss broke off, I shifted to rest my head on his chest and we stayed like that, silently for several minutes.

We both tensed up instantly when the lights slowly increased from the dim setting we'd had them on and JARVIS broke in with, "pardon me. Both of you are requested to go to the living room as quickly as possible, the Avengers are being contacted about a possible mission."

Without hesitation we scrambled out of bed and quickly pulled on our clothes before heading upstairs. "Why am I going up with you?" I hissed out at Steve as we left my apartment.

"Well, it's not like SHIELD exactly has security clearances right now, so we don't have to worry about that. Which means you get to know at least some of where we're going and how long we'll be gone. Not to mention that, depending on those two things, we'll need to make a plan for you."

That all made sense, so I just kept quiet until we made it to the living room. I noticed that Sam, Bucky, and Pepper were there as well as the man in the suit from the night Batroc attacked me outside the bar.

I made my way over to Pepper and she introduced me to the man, Phil Coulson, who was working to put SHIELD back together again. I quickly expressed my pleasure in meeting him and gratitude for his help dealing with the cops the other night before he abruptly, and somewhat awkwardly, excused himself and went to talk to the Avengers.

"Don't take it personally," Pepper said "he's a huge Captain America fan, so he can never wait to get to talk to Steve. And before you arrived, he was really nervous about meeting you. He badly wants you to like him."

"Well, he seemed nice enough, just busy. Why would he be nervous about me?"

"You're Captain America's girlfriend. I'm pretty sure that makes you #2 on his hero list."

I scoffed at that, and Pepper just added, "It's true. Honestly, I'm a little jealous. Steve gets all the sweet fans, and even the fangirls seem to love you because you're with him. Tony's fans are insane, and they HATE me for taking away their chances with him."

"I doubt they love me. I've seen plenty of internet comments that would indicate otherwise, actually."

"No, it's true. Or at least they're giving you the benefit of the doubt for now, assuming you make him happy. Random internet people and trolls make the mean comments, but his fans are always defending you. Which reminds me, assuming this mission goes well and is short enough, I have a couple of public appearances scheduled for you and Steve in the second half of this week. I thought it might be good for you both to get a couple of interviews out of the way before Friday night. If you don't, I think they'll eat you alive on the red carpet into the red gala and then the press who are inside will hound you endlessly, trying to get the first 'scoop'."

I thought about that for a few beats. "Let's just get them through the mission first. Then, I don't know, I'm not wild about the idea, but I'm also not wild about being fresh meat thrown into a den of lions on Friday either. So if you think it is for the best, and Steve agrees to it, then I'll do it."

Pepper clearly took that as acceptance because she whipped out her phone and took a few steps away and started making calls. Looking around, I walked over and stepped into the space between Sam and Bucky as they leaned against the breakfast bar.

"You two bummed you're not going with them?"

"No. I may be me again, but I'm not sure if I'm really ready to let the Winter Soldier back out already for a full-blown mission. I've got a lot of penance to pay, so I'll probably decide I need to go soon, but I'm fine with staying here for now," came Bucky's surprisingly honest reply.

"And I'm fine either way," said Sam. "Really, it'd probably be a smart idea for me to get some training with the team before I go out on a mission with them. Plus, Bucky and I need to stay back and help Happy make sure you and Pepper don't get into trouble!"

"Hey! I resemble that remark!" I fired back at them. "Besides, if you need or want to go, Rangeman would keep me safe. I'd prefer to stay here, but there are always other options. They'd take me in until you got back. Not that I wouldn't be perfectly safe staying here alone! If they're gone and you stay, will you both be able to help me with some training in the morning?"

"I think we can handle that," Bucky replied with a grin.

Oh shit, what did I just get myself into? He and Sam both laughed, and I just groaned. I really don't think anyone should hold anything I accidentally say against me ever, but especially after 9pm. Plus, Bucky was probably at least as scary as Natasha. Well, maybe not quite as scary, but I was pretty sure Natasha liked me more. I wasn't sure if Bucky liked me, or merely tolerated me. At this point, they were both laughing hysterically and Bucky managed to gasp out, "naw, I like you! I won't hurt you."

I'm sure I was definitely looking nonplussed when Steve stepped up behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist. "What's going on here?" he asked.

Before I could say anything, Bucky said, "she asked us to help her with her training in the morning if you guys aren't back. We agreed and then she started rambling because she's apparently more afraid of me than she is of Natasha." That last part was definitely a boast and everyone else had joined us at this point and heard the last bit.

When Natasha started to bristle, I quickly said, "no! That's not what I said. I said that maybe he wasn't as scary as you, Natasha, but I was pretty sure you like me more. So you won't hurt me when we're training, but I wasn't sure about him!"

That seemed to please Natasha and she tugged me out of Steve's grasp, wrapped an arm around my waist and led me over to the couch whispering, "of course I like you! And I would never hurt you. He'll do a good job with your training though, don't worry about that. And everyone likes you too, just not as much as me! Well, other than Steve, but that's different."

I laughed at the absurdity of the conversation, and then we all settled down in the seating area. I had Natasha on my left and Steve on my right as Steve laid everything out for us.

They were going to scout out a location of a possible HYDRA facility in New Hampshire. If the intel was deemed to be good when they got there and they could find a way in, they were going to take out the facility. Coulson had another team to help with some of the support, but there weren't too many of them, so they asked Sam to come along and Bucky to hold down the fort. I was going to protest that they could take Bucky too if they needed, when I remembered what he had said about not being ready. So instead I said that it would make me much more comfortable to have Bucky stay. He caught my eye and nodded his head in gratitude. From the way Steve squeezed my hand, I could tell that he knew what was going on and was grateful as well.

Because they were only going to New Hampshire, which was a short flight. Even with recon time, they were expecting to be back by mid-morning, afternoon at the latest. I promised to call Ranger and have a couple extra Rangemen pick me up in the morning so that my escort wouldn't be light. With everything decided, I followed Steve, Bucky, and Sam down to Steve's floor so Steve and Sam could "suit up".

I was sitting on Steve's bed, listening as he talked to me from his closet and told me the story of Loki's attack on the helicarrier and Phil's apparent death. I was trying to decide if the story was terrifying or if it was reassuring that they might be able to bring Steve back from a really bad injury even if they let me think first that he was dead. Then he stepped out of the closet in his uniform with his shield on his back and my mouth went dry. Fuck. me. Nobody should be allowed to look that hot ever, but especially not when there's no time to do anything about it.

Steve chuckled then walked over to me a dropped a quick kiss on my lips before evading my hands when I tried to stroke where his uniform clearly accentuated his abs. And maybe my other hand was reaching for his ass, but trust me, there's not a jury in the world who would convict me for that!

"Another time, I need to go."

I sighed then got up and grabbed the hand he was holding out to me. Sam and Bucky were waiting in the living room when we stepped out, and we all went back to the elevator together. "You're going to be careful," Steve said.

I laughed and said, "I'm pretty sure that's my line!" But he was not amused. He just turned and fixed me with a stern gaze until I waivered and said, "fine, I will if you will." I could sense Bucky and Sam trying not to laugh at that before the elevator doors gratefully opened into the small room leading out to where the jet waited for them. It was floor to ceiling mirrored windows on one side, so we could see the others out there waiting. Sam headed out to them.

When I tried to walk out into the open, Steve stepped in front of me. "There's still an unknown sniper out there, so this is as far as you go." Then he reached a little ways into the neckline and pulled out the dogtags I was wearing. He leaned down to rest his forehead on mine and said, "what did I tell you when I gave these to you?"

"That you're always coming back to me." He pressed a kiss to my lips and said, "that's right."

"And I'll be here waiting for you." I added, which earned me another kiss. Then without another word, he walked away.

I sighed, then jumped when Natasha said from next to me, "I've got his back."

I turned to look at her as I nodded and said, "as long as you take care of yourself too." There was a moment where I could see surprise plainly written across her face before she recovered and made it completely blank again. It was my turn to be surprised though when she wrapped me into a quick hug before walking out. I stood there for a couple minutes after the sound of the jet taking off had faded away and Pepper had joined Bucky and me.

Finally I turned to them both and shrugged before leading the way back into the elevator and into the common floor. When we stepped out into the living room, they were both eyeing me warily. I was reasonably sure they were waiting for me to fall apart, but I just kept my shoulders straight and gave them a small smile. "Might as well try to get some sleep," I said. Pepper eyed me and then nodded with satisfaction. "I have an early meeting tomorrow- around 5 AM. Conference call with some people a few time zones away. I probably won't see you until dinner unless something comes up. They'll be back by then and we can talk about those interviews with Steve, okay."

"Sounds good. Good luck with your meetings." With that, Pepper walked over to the stairs that connected their floor with this one, and was gone with one more goodnight tossed over her shoulder. I turned to Bucky and asked, "What time do you want to hit the gym in the morning? I'm probably going to need a run, so I'll head down around five. If it's alright with you, I'd like to be done by around 6:30 so that we can grab a quick breakfast and be on our way by 7 or 7:30? Rangeman will send a car for me again, and I assume you're coming with?"

He nodded, "0500 sounds good, and yes, I'm going with you."

"Good. You'll like the guys." When he didn't look like he believed me in the slightest, I tossed in a, "trust me." He exited on Steve's floor where he was staying now that I'd moved out into my own apartment and paused, surprised when I didn't join him, "I'll be fine on my own floor. I need to get used to it anyway. Good night!"

Much to my surprise, I actually managed to sleep fairly well. When I stumbled out of my room and out toward my kitchen, I stopped and grabbed my gun out of my holster at the smell of coffee already drifting out toward me. I pressed myself to the hallway wall before Bucky called out, "it's just me, Steph, sorry!"

I holstered my gun and walked out. "Don't worry about it," I reassured him, "I wouldn't have given you access if I wasn't okay with you coming and going as you please. I just figured I'd see you in the gym around 5:30 or so."

Bucky held out a cup of coffee for me and watched as I doctored it before drinking it down. By the time I'd finished the first cup, he had a second waiting for me, with what tasted like the exact same amount of milk and sugar already added. I smiled my thanks and drank it then laughed, shaking my head as he handed me a muffin while we walked out to the elevator.

I had been a bit nervous about how the morning was going to go, but I shouldn't have been. Bucky took Clint's place on the treadmill next to mine for the first half hour. He was clearly running at a much faster pace than me, but he filled the time asking me questions to get to know me better, answering my silly questions, and telling me stories about growing up with Steve. We both became decidedly more serious when we got to the self-defense training part of the morning, but it went well too. I could see where trading off trainers would be a big benefit in the long run, and he seemed pleased with what we accomplished that morning.

When we got to the elevators, we decided just to meet on my floor for breakfast, as Pepper had already left for the morning and no one else would be joining us upstairs if we went there anyway. And that would just be depressing. I showered quickly and put on my Rangeman uniform before calling Ranger to setup a 7:30 pickup in the garage. I was strapping on my weapons as I walked into the living area and wasn't at all surprised to find that Bucky was already there setting out two bowls of granola with fruit and milk on my table.

We ate breakfast companionably, and when Bucky asked me more about being a bounty hunter and security specialist for Rangeman, I happily filled him in. I also told him about the various Rangemen he'd meet today, making sure to emphasize the backgrounds of those with more checkered pasts, like Hector with his teardrop tattoo and his time in a gang.

"And you trust them? Feel safe with them?"

"Absolutely. I love them like brothers. I trust them with my life."

As we finished cleaning up, I leaned against the counter, crossed my arms and bluntly said, "there's more than one way to make amends. We take dangerous people who don't care about who they hurt off the streets and we help keep people and families safe. If you aren't sure you want to go back to the espionage way of life, we'd be happy to have you at Rangeman. I'm going to be needing a permanent partner with all of the shuffling that is going on right now. And trust me, you're crazy qualified. Overqualified really; you'd probably find it boring. And we could work something out where you could still go with the others on the really big save-the-world missions. Just something to think about and let me know if you want that. I'll talk to Ranger for you, but I know he'll agree."

"Thanks. I will."

Before either of us could get another word in, there was a loud bang and the entire wall of windows in my living room exploded. I had my gun out before I even registered it, and Bucky calmly started moving me toward the hallway and my bedroom as a bunch of men started dropping in through the space the window used to be. "They're here for you; they don't care about me. I'll hold them off; you get to your panic room. You don't come out until Steve or I come get you." I wanted to protest that he could come with me, but he was already rushing back into the living room so I ran toward my room. As I was halfway to the closet, my bedroom windows exploded too. JARVIS's voice calmly but firmly said, "the door is open, and I'm ready to shut it behind you." I emptied my clip at the men I saw jumping in that window as I scrambled into the safe room, letting out a sigh of relief as the door clicked shut.

Then came the waiting and the uncertainty. When we'd gone through setting up the room on my birthday, JARVIS had explained that depending on the situation, he would use different protocols. He'd given me the option of approving or rejecting each individually if I'd wanted, but I figured whatever he set up with was fine. I'd never used a panic room before, and he would always use the protocol he thought would keep me the safest. Unfortunately it seemed that meant that he may not provide me with the security feeds or even talk to me if that was part of what he'd decided was the best protocol. And apparently he'd decided this was one of those times because JARVIS would not respond to me, no matter how much I'd pleaded.

I had a small bathroom and enough supplies to last me in here for several days, and I was hoping it wouldn't come to that. I badly wanted to go check on Bucky, especially when I heard what sounded like several much closer explosions followed by deafening silence. I had promised him I'd stay inside though, so I kept that promise. While the silence and the waiting stretched on for hours, I kept imagining the absolute worst case scenarios. Eventually, I curled myself into a ball in the corner, put my head in one of my hands, the other latched onto my necklace, and just cried.

What felt like days later, but I was eventually told was "just" three hours, the safe room door opened. I held my reloaded gun in front of me, trained calmly at the door forcing myself to take slow, smooth breaths and surprised that my hands weren't shaking. As soon as I saw Steve standing there, and he whispered out, "Steph", I flicked the safety back on and holstered the gun. By the time I was done, I was in his arms being held firmly but with great care.

That's when I started sobbing again. Steve was whispering, "you're okay, Love. You're okay," before I finally managed to cut him off.

"B-b-b-bucky. Is he dead?" I asked with the last word coming out in a pathetic wail. From the doorway I heard a cocky, "oh, come on Doll, I'm much harder than that to kill! Those men were amateurs!"

I let out a sob of relief then launched myself at him. I gave him a quick hug, checked him over for injuries, and, when I found him unbelievably without a single scratch, I started hitting him.

"Owww! What the hell, Steph?!"

"How the fuck long have you been out there? Why didn't you get me? Was it some kind of punishment for getting you shot at or something?!"

I felt Steve shaking with laughter as he pulled me away from Bucky and spun me around, pressing my head into his chest before wrapping his arms around me again.

"Steph, do you remember when you set up your panic room access code with JARVIS and had him set one up for me as well?" Steve asked.

"Yes."

"Well, JARVIS took that as an order that no one else was allowed to open the door with you inside. So Bucky couldn't open the door. Why didn't you open the door? We were actually really worried that you might somehow not be in there anymore or be hurt or something."

"Or that you were afraid to be out here with me," muttered Bucky.

"Because JARVIS wasn't talking to me! I heard a few more explosions and then just absolute silence. I thought Bucky was d-d-d-dead because of me," I broke down a little then and heard muttered curses from around the room before I continued, "and I thought they were out here waiting for me. Maybe with hostages or something if JARVIS wasn't willing to show me what was happening out here. But I promised Bucky I'd stay inside until he or you came to get me, so I did. Bucky, I swear, I wasn't hiding from you!"

Steve just held on to me until I stopped crying again and my own personal nightmare went away. "Tony?" I finally called out, unsure if he was there, but assuming he was.

"Yeah, Steph," he responded warily.

"I have some questions about how the panic rooms work. Do you think we could go over them sometime soon?"

"Sure, Steph, no problem."

"Bucky?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm sorry I hit you."

"That's okay, it didn't hurt."

"Hey! There's no reason to be nasty about it!"

I squeezed Steve tight one more time before pulling back and finally looking around the room. Steve's back had been to the safe room, so it was the first thing I saw. That and the remnants of what had been my closet around it.

"Damn it!" I cursed.

"It's alright, Steph," came Pepper's voice. "We'll get you new clothes." I slowly turned, taking in the damage to that whole wall, when they'd clearly tried different angles looking for a weak spot.

"Guess that explains all the explosions. And why they sounded so close."

My gaze continued around the rest of the room, not quite taking in its occupants yet as I saw the bullet holes, scorch marks, and other assorted damages. When my gaze settled on the floor in front of where the windows had been, a couple of people tried to shift to cut off my view of the bodies on the floor. But I'd already seen the two dead from head shots and the couple of bloody spots with drag marks next to them.

"Did I?"

"Yes," said Clint, "range time paid off, Steph. And this has got to be one of the clearest cases of self defense I've ever seen. JARVIS has it on camera from multiple angles; it's fine."

"Right. Just hold on a second." I slowly backed into the safe room again, grabbed the trash can that was in there and proceeded to lose my breakfast. I walked back out and Natasha held out a piece of peppermint gum to me. I took it and chewed slowly on it for a few seconds. Then I said, "thanks. I feel better now."

Trying to lighten the mood a little, Natasha said, "Steph, I just have to ask. Are those your shoes?" indicating the black chest that was the only thing other than the panic room still standing in my closet.

I grinned and rushed over to it, entering in my combination and letting out a triumphant shout when I opened it. My shoes were sitting in there, just as shiny and new as when I'd opened them on sunday. "Yessssss! You all laughed when I mentioned it, but JARVIS hooked me up yesterday. BEST DECISION EVER!"

I heard Steve say, "hey!" and Bucky say, "not getting into the panic room when I told you to?" but it was Pepper's "she's got a point" that had me reaching out my fist in the direction from which I'd heard her voice, and saying, "see, Pepper gets it, right Pepper?" satisfied when I felt her give it a shaky bump with her fist and heard her "right."

I finally looked at all the people in the room, when I'd taken everyone in, noting that Sam and the Avengers were all in uniform looking a bit worse for the wear themselves. Agent Coulson was surrounded by a few people I didn't recognize, so I assume that was his team. I settled my gaze on the Rangemen. And it looked like all of Rangeman Manhattan _and_ Trenton was standing there in their uniforms. I finger waved at them and said, "hey guys, how's it going?" before singling my gaze in on Ranger and saying, "hiya boss, sorry I'm a little late today. It will certainly happen again."

Everyone burst out in laughter at this and Ranger just held his hand out, palm up with a satisfied smirk as Tony grumbled, pulled Pepper's wallet out of her purse with a promise to pay her back, and slapped some bills into Ranger's hand.

"Ranger, I thought you were on my side of the betting on my life thing! The side that recognized that doing so is awful!" I shouted, feeling a bit betrayed.

"Relax, we weren't betting on something happening to you or anything, just what you would say first to the guys and I when you got out of the room."

I scoffed but let it go. For now.

That was until Ranger locked eyes with me and pushed it saying, "actually, Tony, she's already spoken to you and Pepper each as well." Then, unbelievably, he held out his palm again. Tony complained then smacked more money into it, and quick as a whip, I walked over and grabbed the money out of Rangers hand.

"I'll be keeping this, and I'll thank you kindly to never do that again." I said, eyes narrowed and pointing at the two of them. I turned to Steve and asked what time it was. Satisfied with his response, I did some quick math then I looked back at Ranger and said, "Ranger, mats, 1500," before waltzing out of the bedroom.

I heard rushing behind me and Bucky's "uh, Steph, hold on, I don't think you want to…" he trailed off when he realized that they were too late to stop me. I looked around the wide open center of my apartment and just gaped. There had obviously been a couple of smaller, more contained explosions as well as machine gun fire in here. There were _several_ more dead bodies. I turned my wide eyes on Bucky and said, "oh, Bucky, I'm so sorry you had to do this."

He tilted his head to the side and said, "these were for a good cause. So it helped me, I was just worried you would…" he trailed off and I just waved him off.

"That was because I did it. Also, I could see what I thought was brain." I paused and took a few deep breaths and tried to shake the thought off. "Don't suppose any of them told you who sent them?"

"No, but we'd heard that Batroc was hiring, so we think this might have been tryouts."

A shudder ran through my body at that. I really didn't like the idea of people trying out for positions that involved doing harm to me. The last time that had happened it had been the Junkman trying out to be a leader for the Slayers.

I shoved that thought away as well and, taking another look around my once beautiful apartment, I sighed. I turned to Tony and Pepper and said, "See, I told you I'd blow it up."

Much to my surprise, Pepper started laughing at that, and Tony just whined, "all you had to do was say that first and I would have broken even!"

Deciding his loss was punishment enough, and I didn't comment on it instead saying to the room at large, "not that I'm really complaining, but why aren't there cops here, asking me a million questions?"

"Don't worry about that, Ms. Plum, we'll handle this," said Agent Coulson, indicating to his team standing around him, introducing me to each in turn.

"It's just Steph, or Stephanie if you'd rather. And thanks. Can we go then?"

When he nodded, I walked out the door of my apartment asking Steve, "so, how'd the mission go."

"Fine, intel was good. We eliminated the base. Didn't find anything to help us discover the next location though."

"Well, one step at a time, right?"

We were standing in the elevator with Pepper, Tony, Clint, Natasha, Sam, and Bucky and it wasn't going anywhere. Everyone just looked at me before Steve finally asked, "Steph, where are we going?"

I looked around, surprised to see myself in the elevator and the others looking at me. "I have no idea. I just didn't want to be in there any more. You look like you probably want to clean up though, so how about your floor?" He nodded and the elevator started rising.

While we were waiting, JARVIS finally spoke, "I'm terribly sorry if I've done something against your wishes or to make this ordeal more difficult for you Miss Plum."

"JARVIS, it's fine. Clearly there are some things I didn't understand, but we'll figure it all out later."

_**Steve's POV**_

I let out a sigh of relief as I shut my bedroom door behind us, allowing Steph and I to be alone for the first time since we'd gotten the report on the jet ride home that there had been an attack on Avenger's tower this morning and Steph was believed to be in her panic room but was unresponsive.

When we'd gotten word, I'd paced around in the back of the Quinjet until Natasha finally made me sit down and eat some MREs claiming I'd need some strength for whatever was coming down the road. She had her phone pressed to her ear and I knew she was continually trying Steph's cell. Clint was on the phone with Rangeman and Sam with Bucky. Finally Sam and Clint were able to work together to get Bucky to go downstairs long enough to get the men from Rangeman in the building. And all of this seemed to be buzzing in the background as I thought of all the worst case scenarios for the rest of the flight back. The others had been lucky that I'd waited for them to get in the elevator before taking it down to Stephanie's floor.

As soon as I walked into her bedroom, however, JARVIS had spoken up saying, "very good, Captain Rogers. If you'll just enter in your code, I think Miss Plum will be very happy to see you."

I heard Tony in the background as I rushed up to the keypad saying, "Are you fucking kidding me, JARVIS? You couldn't at least have told us that before now?"

"Only Miss Plum and Captain Rogers have keycode access to this panic room."

The sight of Stephanie crouched in the back corner of the room as small as she could get, with tear tracks down her cheeks, but her gun head steadily pointing at the door managed to both fill me with pride and tear my heart to little pieces. And when she told Tony she had some questions about panic rooms all I could think was that, yeah, we were definitely going to be having an Avengers-wide panic room training session. Though, I had to admit, I was pleased with how the panic room itself had held up as well as it did.

As soon as I had her in my arms again and I knew everything was going to be okay, time that had stood still had sped back up. I remembered chuckling a little at Stephanie's antics, but really I was just biding my time until I could get her alone again and check over every inch of her body to make sure she really was okay. With the click of the door latching, it became clear that Stephanie was of the same mind as her hands were desperately sliding along my uniform trying to find the zipper. I pulled her into the bathroom and got her undressed before taking pity on her and guiding her hands to show her how to get me out of my uniform. I slip my hands along every inch of her, checking her over for fresh injuries and amazed that there were none. I trailed my mouth along behind my hands and things quickly escalated.

A while later, Stephanie pulled me into the shower so that we could both clean up. Despite my objections, she made it clear that after lunch, she was heading into Rangeman for a few hours with or without me. She was fine with the "without me" option, but I wasn't quite ready for that yet, so that left me one option. It also left me once again grateful that I could go a couple days without sleep if need be without having to worry about decreased cognitive function.

As I sat on the bed, watching Stephanie flit about my room getting ready for the afternoon, I found myself more than a little impressed by her tenacity. Given what she clearly thought was happening outside of her little safe room while she hunkered down inside, refusing to open the door because of a promise she'd made, more than a few people would be curled up in a bed crying right now. Not to mention that she'd just had her second apartment in roughly a month bombed. And she'd killed at least two men. Yet somehow she was smiling and humming to herself as she went around trying to figure out what she'd left in my room that could be of use to her until she managed to stock up, _again_, on her essentials. I honestly couldn't have asked for or imagined a better partner for life.

"I can't wait to marry you," I blurted out. Oh shit. My eyes bugged out. Did I just say that out loud?! Was accidentally speaking your thoughts contagious? I held my breath, holding out just a tiny sliver of hope that I hadn't actually said that out loud until Stephanie turned to me with wide eyes. Thankfully I didn't see any panic in her face. Okay, I could work with this. I could extract my foot out of my mouth.

"That wasn't a proposal, right?" she asked, cautiously.

I ran my tongue along my teeth, "No, not really?"

"Not really as in, not completely, but a little bit?"

I sighed. "uhhhhh, well, no, it wasn't a proposal per say. More a thought I was having that slipped out. See, I was looking at you and I was just amazed by how strong you are." She laughed at that and I smiled and said, "mentally. Not that you're not physically strong, but you're right, not compared to me, not many people are. Tough I guess is what I was thinking. I mean, you've gone through so much today, and here you are with a smile on your face ready to go put in a couple hours of work even though you know Ranger would happily give you the day off."

"Part of what helps me stay strong is pretending that it is just a normal day. I'll probably have a bit of a breakdown later," she confessed, stepping between my legs and wrapping her arms around my neck while smiling down at me and allowing me to wrap my arms around her waist. "That, and of course, having you here, and knowing you'll help me stay safe. And what we did in there," she added, gesturing with her head toward the bathroom.

I nodded in understanding and looked in her eyes and said, "regardless of how you achieve it, it is remarkable. So I was looking at you, thinking about all this, and all I could think was that I was so lucky to have found you to be my partner in life. And I know it is too soon for a proposal, so it isn't that. I don't want to freak you out." I paused surprised once again that I wasn't seeing the slightest bit of panic on her face. So I reached up with one hand and cupped her cheek and with the other and ran my fingers over her necklace and I added, "but if you want, you can think of it as a promise that one is coming down the road."

I held my breath, waiting to see how she would react, and cautiously let it out when her face broke into a big smile and she said, "I suppose you're right, it probably is too early. But I think I'm going to hold you to that promise, okay?"

"Yeah, okay," I said, allowing a matching grin to find its way across my face. "How soon do you think is not too early?" I asked, curious to see what she'd say.

"I don't know. This thing is still so much more than I ever expected. My heart says now isn't even too soon, it's my brain that's telling me to slow down. Probably at least a couple more months?" she said, and I heard the question in her voice.

I sighed and said, "fine, I guess I can wait that long. You really think you'll agree to marry me sometime though?"

She snorted out a laugh, "I have no doubt about it."

Overwhelmed with emotion, I pulled her in for a deep kiss. When I pulled back, I wiped some tears off her cheeks and she did the same to me. Then I stood up and pressed a quick kiss on her nose. "Okay, let's go upstairs and see what we can hunt up for lunch before we head out."

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**A/N:** Yeah, I totally didn't mean for that to happen, but I'm so not sorry it did. I hope you're okay with it too. You got short changed a bit on this chapter and Steve's POV because that felt like a good place to break it. I'm heading out for a bit of a trip, and it could either wind up being one in which I get nothing written for you or one in which I get a lot written for you. In particular I'm going to be traveling for several hours in a bit, and probably not able to sleep, so if you all treat me well with this chapter, I might be able to get more of the next written. Just saying, I love me some feedback and reviews! Happy Friday, all!


	15. Chapter 15

**Disclaimer: **The characters and things you recognize in this story don't belong to me. They belong to Marvel and Janet Evanovich. I'm pretty sure you'll recognize which is which. Mistakes belong to me. I also don't own Ellen Degeneres, any part of her show, or WB's Heads Up app.

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Chapter 15

_**Steve's POV**_

When we got upstairs, I was amazed that only an hour had passed. It was just before noon, and everyone was sitting around as though they were waiting for us, even though we hadn't made any plans of that type. About half the Rangemen who had been in Steph's apartment earlier appeared to still be there, and they went about their customary greetings, each verifying in their own way that Steph was okay. I was more than a little surprised, though pleasantly so, when most of them also greeted me in some small way, be it a nod of the head, a smack on the back, or a "Captain". Whatever they chose, it was progress.

When everyone who wanted to had greeted her, Stephanie walked over to where Natasha was sitting on the couch alone and sat next to her. Apparently no one else was brave enough to do so, but Steph was completely unphased, even offering Natasha a smile and a small wink as she settled in. Natasha reached into one of her pockets and pulled out a small tube which she handed off to Steph. Stephanie read the label and she got a big grin on her face then dashed off to the restroom. When she walked back a few minutes later, I noticed that her hair was different, the curls a little more in control. She tried to pass the tube back to Natasha, but Natasha just shook her head gesturing for Steph to keep it.

Ranger came striding into the apartment carrying a purse, which may have seemed odd if I hadn't distinctly remembered seeing Stephanie's absolutely destroyed in her apartment, apparently having been too close to a grenade. He walked over and handed it off to her and she started going through it, handing him back the gun and the backup piece demonstrating that she'd had both on her person when the attack happened and still did. I'd known that since she'd had her gun, since I'd opened her safe room door to it pointed at my face, but I guess no one else had seen that or noticed it on her.

Actually, she'd shot those men, so they had to know. My guess was Ranger just wanted to praise her for having her piece on her and this provided him the opportunity. Regardless of the cause, you could tell that Steph was quite proud of herself when she handed the spare back to him.

Ranger stashed the guns on his person then walked over and stood next to me.

"How'd they get in?"

"Tony and Bruce are working on it, but we suspect they somehow used targeted resonant frequency, which would be very difficult with that type of glass. Possibly they scored it somehow beforehand, but if that's the case, we don't know how or which floors may still be affected. Tony's talking about possibly replacing all of the glass on the building. Starting from the top and working his way down."

"Want to move her out to a safe house or something? Rangeman has plenty available that we could use."

"That's up to her, but I wouldn't recommend it."

"Why not?"

"A few reasons. One is that Batroc is probably pretty good at finding people and safe houses. Not to say we aren't better at hiding people, but if he did manage to find us, we would be in an unknown area. And, when we actually did the moving, we would be vulnerable to attack. Which leads us to the second reason. When Tony was first convincing me to move into the Tower, I thought it was stupid because everyone knew we were here. It'd be like laying out the welcome mat."

Ranger nodded his head, clearly in agreement with those initial fears of mine. "Then Tony explained to me every defense that he has built into the tower and made me play a bunch of _Rampart_ as well as some other tower defense games. And some detailed simulations of his own. There probably isn't a safer place in the world she could be. And finally its because we don't know how long this will go on, and we can't hide forever. It took Batroc a long time to make his first move on me after we met. He's failed enough times in a row now that he's just as likely to go into hiding for a long while and wait for us to get complacent. Might as well live our lives in the meantime. But like I said, it's Steph's decision. If she wants to go, we'll go."

"If she wants to go, you could let her go and stay."

"Not an option."

"Tell me about Bucky."

"Not a lot to tell, he's a great soldier and friend. He was captured by Hydra and experimented on. I saved him, and he signed on to be one of my Howling Commandos despite the fact that he had every right to just go home after that. We were on a mission, he fell, should have died, but lived only to be captured by Hydra again. Then they brainwashed him and forced him to do their bidding for decades while keeping him prisoner. He managed to break free from them and now he's here to help."

"Had they met before Saturday? Bucky and Steph that is."

"Nope."

"Why'd he help her?"

"First and foremost because it was the right thing to do. Besides that, I think he would do anything to help her, specifically, and not because of our relationship. He'll do it because the very first time they met, she was fighting for her life, he jumped down looking like he does, and she instantly trusted him to literally have her back."

"I'm familiar with that experience. A lot of us are."

"I think everyone she meets is to some degree."

"Hell, a quarter of her skips probably think of her as a friend."

And that information didn't surprise me one bit.

"You two headed in to the office with us?"

"Yep, I was going to try to get her to eat some lunch first though."

"She doesn't know this yet, but Ella is here and cooking lunch as we speak."

"That'll be a nice boost for her; I'll just let her know we're eating at the office. We can head out whenever you're ready then. Still no garage?"

"Tomorrow. We should have her fob ready and badges within an hour or two. So you'll have them before you leave for the day."

I nodded and was about to walk away when Ranger added, "and Captain, I hope you're not too tired from your mission. We have a game of sorts prepared for this afternoon."

"Can't wait," and, as always, that was the truth.

Half an hour later, we were walking in to what was only a couple coats of paint away from being a conference room. As soon as Steph smelled the air and saw Ella she did a little happy dance before running over and pulling Ella into a hug.

Lunch was boisterous, and full of a mix of fun and work, with everyone discussing and contributing to the plan for opening the new office. Once everyone had eaten their fill and helped Ella cart all the mess upstairs, at my insistence over her numerous objections, we reconvened in the garage of all places. All the Rangemen (and Steph) assigned to Manhattan were there along with Bucky, Sam, and the full team of Avengers.

Ranger went on to explain that the building was fully secure, which was met with cheers from those in uniform. He passed out badges to everyone in attendance and additional fobs to his employees. Then he rubbed his hands together and nodded at Clint. Clint looked as excited as a schoolboy on Christmas morning as he walked over to several tables that were covered with objects hidden with drop cloths.

"The office gets painted tomorrow," said Ranger.

"And I owe Steph a couple of rewards for training in the gun range with me," added Clint. Now, everyone has to agree to be careful with her- she's allowed to train, which this is, but she's not on full duty yet."

"We're trusting all of you, including you Steph, to be smart about this," warned Ranger. "You must now all surrender your firearms."

Once everyone nodded and stored their weapons in the lockers on one side of the garage, Clint rubbed his hands together eagerly. With a touch of glee, he said, "Everyone grab a partner, game starts when Bruce, who will be monitoring from the Command Room, makes the all-page announcement in 15 minutes. Get paint on you, you're eliminated and you can go to the Command Room and watch the rest of the game. Other than that, the rules are… there are no rules! Last team standing wins!" With that he whipped the drop cloths off the tables and revealed a whole heck of a lot of paintball guns and ammo.

Before anyone else could do anything more than stare and look back over at Ranger with uncertainty, Bucky quickly but calmly walked up to the table, grabbed four guns and a whole lot of ammo and stashed them on himself. Then he grabbed some more ammo and carried it over to Steph before stashing it and two of the guns on her. Then he grabbed her hand and pulled her into the staircase only laughing and yelling that he'd bring her back after they won in response to my indignant "hey!"

Laughter bounced off the walls around us and there was that awkward pause as everyone tried to decide who was going to pair off with whom. I figured this was a good way to get to know some of the Rangemen, so I stared around the room assessingly. I watched as Hector walked up to Natasha, said something to her in Spanish, and when she fired back an apparently satisfactory response, those two went off together.

Ranger started to walk over to me, and Clint just shook his head and said, "no way, that'd be handing Steph and The Winter Soldier a victory- neither of you would ever shoot her. Come on Ranger, I got your back."

I scoffed, "right, no one here is willing to shoot Steph anyway." Although, that made me think of the story I'd heard allusions to from the others, and I turned an assessing gaze on Hal. "I've heard you might welcome some non lethal-force payback?"

Hal looked back at me and just stammered, "I would never hurt Stephanie."

"I know, she's told me about all the times that you've helped her. But I also heard something about a taser, and Clint's right, I would probably have a difficult time taking her down. I figure you could use a little payback though, all in good fun of course, so let's see what we can do."

He still looked a little intimidated, so I just clapped him on the back and steered him over to the ammo table. I'd seen Tony pair off with Lester, which was no surprise, though also not too concerning. Tank had buddied up with Thor, and Sam looked to be working with Bobby. This was going to be an interesting game, that's for sure. I didn't want to discount anyone, especially the teams with Avengers. Natasha and Hector seemed like a particularly worrisome combo, but in the back of my mind I knew the pairing to be most concerned about was Bucky and Steph. Goodness knows what their two minds combined could come up with and they'd had about 14 minutes of the planning time compared to everyone else's 5-10 minutes after the pairing up and trash talking was done.

As we walked off, Hal started to say something and I just shook my head, taking advantage of my super soldier hearing to try to decipher other hushed conversations happening around us. Once we'd gotten well outside of range, I turned to Hal and provided him the rundown of what I'd heard. We decided to start with the snipers, see if we could eliminate them while they were stalking their prey and then take out said prey. We knew they were most likely to be in the air vents off of various rooms, which we wouldn't fit in. But we would fit in the larger main ducts, and as long as we could get close to them in there, we could pick them off when they passed or rig something up to disperse paint spray down one of the shafts. We found some supplies in a cleaning closet, and worked to try to rig something together for this purpose with the last few minutes of our setup time.

When Bruce announced the start of the game, we took our time carefully making our way through the building to the highest air vent access point on the roof. We figured we'd be able to beat the snipers at their own game that way. We'd been in the air vents for no more than fifteen minutes when we were hit with paint from every direction. Not in bullet form, mind you, but as a mist making its way through the air vents. We stared in shock at each other, now dripping in bright purple paint head to toe.

"What the fuck was that?" asked Hal.

I shrugged, "embarrassing, that's what that was. Guess we're done, let's head out."

When we reached the Command Room, I was a little surprised to see that we weren't the first ones there. Already in the room were Clint and Ranger; Ram and Cal; and Sam and Bobby. All were covered in a purple paint that matched ours.

They nodded at us and Clint pointed to the monitors and said, "you guys were the furthest up so it took you the longest to get hit with that paint bomb. Apparently we all had the same idea," indicating to the purple contingent.

Then I turned to Hector and Natasha who were pouting and covered in an odd paint color that seemed to be every color mixed together to create a brown that was almost black.

"What happened to you?"

Hector started muttering in Spanish and Natasha just sighed. "I'm sure we got Winter Soldiered. Hector has his own security feeds, so we went to his office during set-up planning to get some hand-held monitoring devices to use since 'there are no rules' and Hector assured me no one but he could get in there. The second Bruce announced the start of the game, the entire office was hit with directional bombs. Managed to soak us and would have no matter where we were standing, but they didn't damage any of Hector's equipment. That fact has probably saved their actual lives based on how Hector is reacting to this."

When Hector started ranting at Bruce again, Bruce responded curtly. At my questioning look Bruce explained, "I told him I'd show him how they got into his office, but he has to wait until the game is over. Which at this rate, really won't be very long."

We watched the monitors, finally spotting Bucky hustling back into a door on a floor I hadn't been on yet.

With a tone of astonishment, Ranger said, "were those the building blueprints?"

"Yep!" came Bruce's laughing response, "first thing she did after taking care of Hector's office was waltz into your office and take those. Then she went up to your apartment and took another set. They even stopped by Tank's office to make sure he didn't have any. Then they went back to your apartment and they've been using that as home base."

Ranger gave an incredulous laugh at that. "They better not get paint in there."

"Who would be dumb enough to go looking in there to start a fight?" asked Bobby.

When no one offered a response to that, I turned to the pairs of Rangemen who were also in the room and asked them how they had gotten eliminated. None of them would look me in the eye, so I had some guesses as to who was involved and what she was using to her advantage.

"Just watch this, Cap, I think you're about to see their strategy in action on Lester and Tony."

I carefully watched the monitors as Bucky and Steph emerged from Ranger's apartment. Stephanie walked along calmly while Bucky faded into the background as he was prone to doing. Apparently, Stephanie had found herself a distraction outfit somewhere and had taken the liberty of changing out of her Rangeman uniform and into the outfit, though it seemed she had elected to go barefoot, rather than wear heels, in case she needed to run. She "stumbled" around the corner and pretended to be wide eyed when she saw Lester and Tony.

They were both staring at her chest, not paying attention to her lame story about how she didn't want to get paint on the only uniform shirt she had right now, so she'd taken hers off and was trying to find something more appropriate in a desk or something that she could borrow. While they were distracted, Bucy snuck around them and shot them both in the back, adding double shots to the chests for good measure when they turned to look at him. Then he walked up to Steph and wordlessly gave her a fist bump before leading the way back to Ranger's apartment.

We watched on the monitors as, quite surprisingly, Zip and Zero got the drop on Tank and Thor, taking both of them out. That left three more pairs. This time when Steph and Bucky left Ranger's office, they worked their way floor by floor taking out the remaining pairs using the same routine. Unfortunately for them, the last pair, Vince and Woody, stumbled on them unexpectedly, catching sight of Bucky and going on alert before Stephanie could pull her usual routine. But when they saw Steph, they still paused long enough for Steph to pull a gun that she had stashed under her dress and shoot them both. She hadn't even bothered trying her lame story.

Bruce used the all page to announce that Steph and Bucky were the winners and they high fived each other before Stephanie dashed back up to Ranger's apartment. Bucky swaggered into the command floor as we were all filtering out of the monitor room with a smile on his face. He smiled when he saw me covered in Purple paint and said, "that's a shame, Cap. Steph had something special planned for you. We were saving you for last. We didn't have you pegged for the air vents- figured you probably wouldn't fit."

"We weren't going to fit in the branched off shafts, but we were planning to take out any snipers we could from the main duct. You beat us to it."

"And you got hit as collateral damage, I see" came Steph's voice from behind me. I turned to look at her and reached out to pull her into me but she jumped out of the way making a tisking noise at me. "No you don't, I worked hard to be paint-free and I am going to stay that way. This is my only uniform right now."

I laughed as Natasha snuck up behind her and grabbed Steph into a bear hug, rubbing paint into her. Steph screeched with indignation, and I laughed then joined in. When I pulled away, I passed Steph off to Thor and watched as she was passed around the room to each person getting more and more paint on her until she had as much on her as anyone else in the room.

Her eyes narrowed on where Bucky was doubled over, clutching his sides from laughing too hard. "Hey, Bucky! Why didn't you have my back just then. I thought that's what partners are for!"

He tried wheezing out an excuse but was unsuccessful so Steph reached behind her back for her two, mostly unused paintball guns and opened fire on an unprepared Bucky. He waited until she'd used all her ammo before rushing her and pulling her into a hug as well.

Once Bucky let her loose, Steph found her way back to me, and I pulled her to snuggle against me. Hector had pulled up the video of Steph and Bucky breaking into his office. His eyes narrowed on Bucky's arm when all Bucky did was walk up to the door and lean his mechanical arm against it while handing Steph a set of lockpicks and walking her through the process.

Stephanie had noticed Hector's glare and said to Bucky, "I knew it wasn't that easy! What else did you do?"

"Not much, just made sure nothing nasty went off when you opened the door. I've got some built in electronics disrupting technology. I turned it back off though once the door was open and I was sure nothing was going to hurt you. And it shouldn't have damaged any equipment."

Ranger was translating for Hector as Bucky spoke, and without another word just stormed off, presumably to check on his equipment.

Looking around the room, I couldn't help myself. These guys really needed to loosen up a bit with me, but they'd been mostly reluctant to do so thus far. So, I crossed my arms over my chest and put on my best Captain America voice and shifted so that I was staring down the largest group of men who had been taken down by Steph's distraction outfit. Managing to keep my serious expression in place I asked, "do I need to be concerned that you are incapable of keeping Stephanie safe in a distraction? I'd assumed not, but after today…" I trailed off and let disappointment and concern ring through my tone.

They seemed suitably uncomfortable and a couple tried to start making excuses but then stammered to a stop under my gaze. Finally I cracked and started laughing, Steph joined me shortly. A few of the guys stared at me in disbelief, so I choked out, "come on, she was in a building you just finished securing. She kept her knives and her bites. And Bucky was with her. Nothing was going to happen to her. Plus, I've seen you work a distraction, she's safe with you. You all need to lighten up."

"If Captain America is telling you to lighten up guys, you know it's true," chimed in Tony.

"Really, I think it was cheating, Steph. You were using something no one other than Natasha had at their disposal," cried Lester.

"No rules, Lester! Just 'cause you couldn't keep your eyes off the ladies long enough to keep from getting shot by Bucky doesn't mean I cheated. It means you need work on _being aware of your surroundings_! You can't blame what I was wearing for your own behavior!"

Stephanie walked back to the garage, bickering with Lester along the way about the "spirit of the game". Once there, she went over to her locker and I was satisfied when I saw her check each of her weapons over before putting them back on herself.

She put in a couple more hours running searches on applicants for the Manhattan office as well as to fill gaps in the Trenton office, while the rest of us found various ways to occupy our time. Stephanie had an office in the new building, complete with a couch, so I passed my time taking a nap. She teased me a little about it, but I just told her that being a soldier meant you took sleep whenever and wherever you could.

Before heading out for the night, we all worked out a plan for the rest of the week, with Tony insisting that Stephanie had to come back to the Tower for lunch tomorrow and would likely be unavailable on Thursday. Friday was the ball, so she'd need to leave a little early as well, he told her. At her protests, Ranger assured her it was fine and that she could work as many or as few hours as she wanted, especially since they hadn't started taking in any skips yet in the new office. That still didn't seem to sit too well with her, but Tony just said that we'd talk everything out at dinner with Pepper, so everyone just let it drop for the time being.

_**Steph's POV**_

"You what?!" I was sitting at the dinner table, staring at Tony incredulously.

"I made you a dress. What is so surprising about that? I am a man of many talents. Why are you acting like I said I just gave birth? I'm a genius, and I am a fan of the female form, it really wasn't that difficult. Not to mention, I designed my suit. You've seen that right; it's a work of art!"

"And he had help from Pepper and a professional designer," Steve added.

"You knew about this?"

"Pepper mentioned it when we were at the bar the other night. It honestly slipped my mind with everything else that happened since then."

I supposed that was fair, so i just nodded. "So I need to be home tomorrow afternoon for a dress fitting. From Iron Man. I still think that's weird, but I'll be there. Why will I not be at work on Thursday?"

This time Pepper offered an explanation, "remember when I said I thought you should do those interviews? Well, that would be possibly a little tomorrow night, but most of the day on Thursday night."

"What is this?" Steve asked, not sounding too thrilled.

I sighed, "yeah, that's how I feel about it too, but Pepper certainly knows more about this kind of thing than either of us. Basically she wants us to do some interviews it sounds like tomorrow night and/or Thursday so that reporters don't hound us endlessly on Friday."

"If you haven't talked to reporters yet and you show up at the ball together, then an interview will be a big prize. Plus, they'll only be able to ask you one or two offhand questions on the way in, so they'll be following you around, trying to flesh out a larger story all night long. If you go on interviews before then, it will lose a little bit of that new shine. Nobody will be getting the scoop because it will have already happened. They'll still ask you questions and take your picture as you arrive, but they'll be a little less crazy about it and they will probably leave you alone once you're inside."

Steve looked at me and said, "we don't have to if you don't want to, but I think what Pepper is saying makes sense. Maybe the paparazzi will back off a little on the day-to-day stuff as well."

"Great!" replied Pepper, opening up a folder that she'd brought down with her. "Now I've assumed you'd rather do your interviews together than separate, right?"

"Yes," I answered. Hopefully with Steve there no one would really notice me anyway. I mean, everyone will want to hear what the super hero has to say, so I was hoping they'd mostly ignore me.

Sam just laughed at that before saying, "the world's known him for a couple years now. He's done some spots here or there, especially when trying to repair the Avenger Initiative's image after the Battle of New York and the Project Insight incident. And there's an entire exhibit at the National Museum of American History about him. You're new."

I felt the color drain out of my face at that. Steve rubbed my thigh under the table and then held my hand. He dropped a kiss on my head and murmured to me that it would be fine. We let go of each other's hands when Pepper slid a stapled packet of paper across the table to each of us.

"I'm still ironing out the details of who is going to be interviewing you and whatnot, but I've put together a list of questions they're likely to ask you. You should go through them and be prepared to answer them. If there are any questions you don't want to be asked, let me know ASAP, and I'll make that part of the agreement for each interview. The highlighted questions are about your relationship, so make sure you're on the same page for how you're going to answer those. Luckily, there's nothing too big in the entertainment world right now, TV shows have mostly already premiered, there's not too many big movies opening yet because we're between summer and the holidays. And some people owe SI a favor, others want to get on our good side. I should be able to make this fun for you, rather than a chore."

When Clint managed to snag the list of questions and start making jokes about what our answers should be for all of them, we decided to take them downstairs. On our way out the door I looked back at her and said, "Pepper, I'd really rather not talk about my parents or Joe. And thanks for setting this up for us. Just let us know when we need to be where and if we need to wear anything in particular."

We walked out of the living room and into the elevator holding hands. As the doors closed behind us, Steve asked, "you going to stay with me or Natasha and Clint?"

"Is this because I said she's scary and you're not?" I asked with a grin.

"Hell no, Natasha _is_ scary, and I try really hard not to be. Unless you deserve it for some reason. I just want to make sure that you know you have options."

"Hmmm, with you or without you. Sounds like one of those options is pretty awful to me. Plus, Pepper gave us homework, so we gotta work on that together. I promise to let you distract me with making out whenever you want." I leaned up to give him a playful kiss just as the elevator door opened.

"Actually, I have a better idea."

"Better than making out?"

"Yes."

I watched as Steve strode into the kitchen and started opening cabinets. He asked JARVIS if he had a copy of the questions and if he would ask them and record our chosen answers for us and email us, and Pepper, a copy when we finished. I heard a slight popping sound as JARVIS agreed and Steve walked back out holding an open wine bottle and two glasses in one hand. With his other hand, he grabbed my stack of papers and flung them across the room. Then he picked me up with his free arm and walked, holding me against his side with my legs coming up to wrap around him, down to his bedroom and into the bathroom.

Once inside, he set me down gently then strode over to his huge bathtub, set the wine and glasses down on the ledge, fiddled with the knobs until he was satisfied with the water temperature, and started it filling. Turning, he pulled his shirt over his head and a fixed me with a steady gaze. Not taking his eyes off mine, he reached down and pulled off his pants and underwear in one fell swoop. Then he stalked toward me, carefully removing my holster and setting it within arms reach of the tub before removing the rest of my weapons and clothing, nibbling at each piece of flesh as he revealed it.

When I was finally standing naked in front of him, he picked me back up and settled us both into the tub. I was sitting between his legs with my back to his front, treating him almost like my own recliner. He handed me the wine glasses to hold as he poured wine into them, then took one for himself. With his free hand, he pulled me even more snugly against his chest and held me there, gently stroking my ribs.

"Mmmmm, you're right. This is definitely better than sitting at a desk going over papers and stealing a kiss here and there."

"Master strategist, at your service. Though this is quite different from every other planning session I've had in my life."

"That's good to know," I said, laughing and gently squeezing his knee in the water next to me.

"You're sure you're okay with doing these interviews, Steph?"

"I'm fine with it. I wish it wasn't necessary and we could just lead a private life, but I think Pepper's right that this is the better strategy in the long haul. I love you, you love me, and we have nothing to hide, so there's no reason to do so. Hiding just makes other people speculate and believe that we're doing something wrong."

"Agreed. So, let's do this. JARVIS, first question please."

We spent an hour in the tub going through questions and answers before we realized that we were definitely pruney. Well, I was definitely pruney. It seemed another way that the Super Soldier Serum helped Steve out was- he didn't get pruney. Or maybe it just took much longer. Either way, we got out and dried ourselves off before curling up naked under a blanket in a big armchair Steve had in his bedroom.

When we got to the question, "are you living together?" things got a little awkward for a couple of minutes, and I could feel his heartbeat pick up a little behind me and tension find its way into his body.

"We could tell them the truth- that I stayed with you when I was recovering from my injuries a few weeks ago. Once I was healed, I moved into my apartment, but it recently sustained some damage and needs repairs so I'm staying with you for the time being. Then just not give any more information or details on follow up."

"Sure, if that's what you want to say, Steph. That's fine with me. Either way, we could tell Tony and Pepper 'thanks but no thanks' on fixing your apartment. You and your indestructible shoe safe could move in here permanently."

I twisted myself around so that I was fully facing him. Laying a hand on his cheek, I studied his eyes looking for any indication that he wasn't comfortable with the idea or any traces of doubt. Finding none, I smiled and said, "yeah, let's do that. And if they ask?"

"We say yes. Like you said, we have nothing to hide and no reason to lie."

I gave him a tight hug then laid my cheek on his chest. With that potential landmine of a conversation past us, we answered the rest with ease. When we'd finished, we asked JARVIS to email a copy from Pepper and also let her know that I would just be moving in with Steve, so she didn't need to prepare that floor for me once it was repaired. Deciding that it would be public knowledge soon anyway and that Steve still wanted to trust the man, we also sent a copy to Coulson labeled "for your eyes only." We stayed cuddled together on the chair for a few minutes longer and it was just enough time for me to drift off to sleep.

Wednesday passed without incident. The dress fitting went very well, and I was excited for our Friday night date. We received a response from Coulson that he didn't see any problems with our answers (not that we'd been asking), and congratulating us on moving in together. He'd also let me know that because I was in a significant relationship with an Avenger that was about to be very public, SHIELD would be taking a strong interest in my safety as well. They couldn't offer too much yet, but would do anything they could to help the Avengers and Rangeman. And he'd started a file in which he collected all kinds of special permits, licenses, etc. I'd have access to it anytime I needed to reference it, but basically I should consider myself to have a global permit to carry concealed, with SHIELD backing me up on it, and should call him if I ever ran into any issues over it.

Unfortunately, Coulson's approval and the fact that Wednesday had blown by so quickly meant that we were staring down the face of a handful of interviews in the 24-36 hours before the ball. I was getting extremely nervous about the prospect, and knew we'd need backup anyway, so I asked Natasha if she could come with us. She of course decided to bring Clint, and it snowballed from there. And that is how the very, very, very early hours of Thursday morning found us on a Stark Industries private jet on our way to California along with the rest of the Avengers, and fielding almost constant jokes from Tony about the bedroom being available to us if we wanted to join the mile high club. Thankfully, I managed to keep the thought that I _would_ if I it weren't for the fact that Tony would be right outside the bedroom the whole time.

I don't really know how it happened, as this wasn't the type of oversight that Pepper really made, but somehow we made our way into the back entrance of a TV studio without me knowing what show we were going to be on. There were still a few hours for me to ask, so I didn't really think much of it as we entered a dressing room. Pepper had arranged for us to share a room and for various wardrobe options to be brought in as well as someone to do my hair and makeup. Noticing that we had a private bathroom attached to the dressing room, I excused myself for a moment to use it. My spidey-sense wasn't going off, which added an extra layer of surprise when I stepped into the bathroom and someone jumped out at me. Without a second thought, my hand went to my holster and I drew my gun while screaming for Steve.

And that was how I first met Ellen DeGeneres, who I love. At gunpoint. I was absolutely mortified as soon as I realized who the woman standing super still in front of me with her hands in the air was.

I still had my gun leveled on her as I blurted out, "oh crap, you're Ellen DeGeneres!"

She just laughed and said, "yes, I am. And clearly I didn't think about this enough, but we've been moving so quickly since we got your call and it's early and I haven't had enough caffeine… at any rate, do you think you could put the gun away? And maybe call off the rest of them? I promise I'm not going to hurt you."

"Sorry!" I squeaked out, and holstered my gun. Then I turned around and saw the rest of the Avengers still clearly ready for battle, and said, "calm down guys, she just surprised me!"

"That was really stupid," said Natasha the a deadly calm monotone that I thought of as her Black Widow Voice, gaze steadily fixed on Ellen.

I just rolled my eyes and gave Natasha a playful shove before turning back to Ellen.

"Hi! I'm Stephanie Plum, you can call me Steph, and I can't believe it's really you. No one actually told me which show we were going to be on, but this is way better than I was hoping. If they'd asked me, you would have been number one on my list. It's an honor to meet you! Oh my god Steve, we're going to be on _Ellen_!"

Tony scoffed in the background, "seriously?! You're fangirling right now, Steph? You didn't do that for us!"

"She's cooler than you are!"

Ellen laughed at that then pulled me into a hug. "It's great to meet you Steph. We actually have a different dressing room for you, a bigger one thankfully because we didn't know you were bringing quite so big of a crowd with you. This is just one that we use to scare people. Which, by the way, I think you're the only person I've done that to who hasn't looked the least bit scared. That video is going to go viral."

She led us down the hallway and into another dressing room, this one more of a suite. We sat on the various seats and couches and I introduced her to the rest of the team. After introductions had been made all the way around, Ellen just shook her head, and turned to one of her staffers and said, "why did no one stop me from hiding in that bathroom? If it had been anyone other than Stephanie here, I'd probably be dead."

"If it makes you feel any better, they probably would have just subdued you, not killed you. They usually like to question people if they can, and you clearly weren't armed."

We spent some time chatting with Ellen and getting to know her a little before being walked through how the segment was going to go. Apparently they'd had a cancellation and shifted their remaining schedule around so that we were the only thing that was going to be on for the hour.

Before I knew it, I was standing with Steve, waiting to walk in and trying to convince myself I wasn't about to puke. I was in some kick-ass stiletto boots, jeans that although new had that well-worn feel, and a semi-sheer, light blue lace wrap top over a white bandeau. Steve was wearing jeans, a white shirt, and a navy jacket over it. Steve leaned down and whispered in my ear, "it's going to be fine" before pressing a kiss to the top of my head. I turned to him and mouthed "I love you" as we heard our names be announced and some music start.

"What I want you've got

And it might be hard to handle

Like the flame that burns the candle

The candle feeds the flame, yeah, yeah

What I've got's full stock

Of thoughts and dreams that scatter

Then you pull them all together

And how I can't explain

Oh, yeah

Well, well you

(Ooh-ho, hoo-ooh, ooh-oo)

You make my dreams come true"

Steve was leading me out with a hand on my back, chuckling when I added a few spins and wiggles in time with the song. When we got over to Ellen, she and I danced together for a few seconds before she greeted me with a hug, followed by the same for Steve. There was only a chair, rather than a loveseat or couch, so Steve sat down and pulled me onto his lap. It took almost a full minute for us to be able to start talking, Ellen started and stopped several times because the crowd was going absolutely CRAZY.

"Yeah, you know, sorry about that. They were supposed to put a couch out for you," Ellen said with a laugh.

I just laughed and Steve said, "it's no problem, really."

"So, you're Captain America, and a member of The Avengers. You've generally tried to stay out of the public eye in the past other than when you had to appear in court because of a subpoena or a press conference. I don't know that you've ever given an interview like this before, right?"

"Right. Well, I mean, during the war I was in all those videos and shows, etc. But in recent history, no. I generally don't give interviews. But it seems that Steph and I have become the object of a heightened level of speculation, so we figured we might as well set the record straight. We're grateful to you for providing us the opportunity to be here."

"I'm happy to have you. So, even though you never admitted it one way or the other before, you used to be on the market, but now you're off the market, right?"

"Strictly speaking, I didn't really see any particular woman or have a relationship. But, a lot of the time, I was just trying to adjust. You know, thinking you're going to die and then waking up is enough of a shock that makes you really rethink a lot about yourself and who you are. Add in waking up almost 70 years in the future and finding out, among other things, that aliens are real, and well. It took me a while to get my head on straight; to even be in the right mental place to be able to give a part of myself to someone else."

"Well, sure. Who wouldn't? I can't say I blame you there. So, Stephanie, you're a bounty hunter. Can you explain to those of us who don't have much experience 'in the system' what that means?"

Rats, I guess I'm going to have to speak after all. "Sure, Ellen. Basically, when someone gets arrested, the court can set an amount of money as bail for them so that they can go home while waiting for the trial to start. If that person doesn't have the cash available up front, they can go to a bondsman who will write out a bond for them, charging a fee, and with something agreed upon as collateral. Usually a mortgage or something of the like. If the person then fails to go to court, the bondsman will have to forfeit the money within a certain amount of time. The bondsman sends out a Bonds Enforcement Agent, BEA, or what you called a Bounty Hunter, to find the person and bring them back to jail before they have to forfeit any money. The BEA gets paid a percentage of the bond. I started out as a BEA working for my cousin Vinnie on low-cost bonds, and I now primarily operate as a BEA under Rangeman LLC which is primarily a security firm."

"Interesting. And now, how did the two of you meet, since I'm assuming Captain America didn't skip out on a bond?"

Steve and I both chuckled at that before I responded, "You're right, he did not. It was more of a right place at the right time thing. It's a bit of a long story, so we'll go with the Cliff's Notes version here. From time to time, people get angry at me for bringing them or one of their loved ones into jail forcibly. I had, unknowingly, landed in one of those situations, so I came home one night to find a bomb in my apartment. While I was helping one of my elderly neighbors evacuate, Steve was walking by. He helped my neighbor get out of the building, then when I ran back into make sure it was clear, he came back in to make sure I got out."

"What happened to your apartment?"

"It blew up, but we'd gotten everyone out of the building, so there weren't any casualties."

"Yikes. Okay, well, and did they catch the guy who did it?"

"We figured out who it is, and he is no longer a problem," replied Steve carefully.

"It seems like there is probably more to that story?" inquired Ellen.

"There is, but we can't really discuss it on the air at this time."

"Okay, well. So, you're apartment exploded, and how did that lead to this?" Ellen asked, gesturing to the two of us.

"Well, there was just this connection when we saw each other for the first time, like we just fit together. At least, that's how it was for me…" I trailed off nervously.

"Absolutely, me too," Steve added giving me a squeeze around the waist and dropping a kiss on my cheek.

Ellen laughed with a smile a mile wide, "you two are just adorable. I know what you mean though, my wife Portia, and I met and had that connection. We moved in together two weeks later, and we've been together for just about a decade now. So I understand what you're talking about, and also how tough of a situation that can be trying to get everyone else to understand that."

Steve and I just nodded our agreement at that.

With that, Ellen threw to the first commercial break, and we sat there talking with her for a few minutes with assistants running out and adjusting our makeup and various set pieces. We had a good time watching the audience dance while we waited and Ellen talked a few things through with her crew. Just a few minutes later, we were back.

"So," Ellen said, still pushing a bit, "as you alluded to earlier, you guys have become quite the paparazzi prey these days. You were outed as a couple while out around the Jersey Shore a few weeks ago-"

I interrupted there with a laugh and said, "that was our first actual date, by the way."

Ellen laughed, "Well, you'll always remember it. And if you somehow forget, you'll have lots of pictures and such to remind you. Then there was a bunch of random speculation and rumors ranging from you being shot, to you two are living together, secretly married and have a whole family stashed away in New York, to Steph joining the Avengers."

I barked out a laugh at that. "No, I am _DEFINITELY_ not an Avenger. I don't have any super powers or special training like the rest of them do. I was shot, and we are not married nor do we have any hidden children squirreled away somewhere. That'd be impossible since we've only known each other for something like 4 or 5 weeks anyway."

"But you _do_ live together?"

I opened my mouth but couldn't quite get myself to say it, so I shut it again and blushed. Thankfully Steve quickly stepped in and said, "Stephanie stayed with me, in an extra guest room in my apartment, after she got shot because she needed some help while she recovered. Plus at that point, her apartment was not liveable and my teammates and I were very invested in her safety. She moved into her own apartment once she was healed, but it has had some… unexpected issues this week, so she's staying with me again, and we just decided a couple days ago to make it a permanent arrangement."

"So you're living together?"

"Yes," I said, finding my voice again. I made an apologetic gesture to the audience when that was met with a mix of applause and good-naturedly disappointed noises.

"So you've both referred to the fact that you were, in fact, shot, Stephanie. Now, those reports were about 4 weeks ago, and you're looking good," she paused for applause there, which had me blushing and Steve nodded his agreement before Ellen continued, "can you tell us what happened there."

"It's still an open investigation, we don't know who did it, so we can't tell you too much, but I was shot three times-"

"Four." Steve interrupted tersely.

"Okay, I guess it was four times. Anyway, it was from a distance while I was at work. Once bullet got my arm a little," I said showing her my arm, hearing the audience react as the still rather fresh scar was shown on the screen to them. "The other three bullets hit me in the chest." I was rubbing my hand absently over my heart, and didn't realize at first how completely silent the audience had gotten. You easily could have heard a pin drop, even without Steve's super hearing.

"You seem really okay for someone who was shot in the chest three times."

"I was wearing body armor."

Ellen didn't look like she knew what to do with that information, but I just smiled and said, "it bruised my ribs something awful, but I'm fine now. Almost back to 100%."

"Well, I guess that explains even more your reaction earlier today." Ellen turned toward the audience and said, "as you all know, I often enjoy scaring my guests in their dressing rooms when they arrive. Today's interviews were arranged very quickly, and none of us thought it through too much, so I tried to scare them this morning, and well, you'll see why that's a bad idea."

A video played behind us, and Steve and I turned to watch with Ellen. The video started and you could see Ellen crouched on the ground just inside the doorway. The door opened, and I totally unsuspectingly walked in only to have Ellen jump out at me. I'd seen many of these videos on YouTube over the past couple of years when she put them on the show, and unlike pretty much everyone else, I didn't scream, or jump. I just whipped out my gun and held her at gunpoint as the Avengers assembled around and behind me. I was worried about how this was going to be taken, but audience burst out in surprise and laughter.

"As you can see, the only one who was scared was me. Initially I thought it was probably best that Stephanie was the one I scared, given the lineup you see there with her. But hearing how the last few weeks have gone for you, Steph, I have to say, I'm not so sure anymore. Thanks for not shooting me though!"

You have no idea, I thought to myself, but out loud I just politely laughed.

"Okay, well, while you say that you haven't had any special training like the rest of the Avengers, a little birdy told me that you are being trained by them- especially the Black Widow."

"Yes, well, as part of my job, I had some self-defense training with my coworkers at Rangman. I had to pass a series of defense and physical fitness tests with them when I signed on full-time. But when this guy started hanging around," I said, playfully elbowing Steve, "He and Black Widow took a particular interest in my combat training. They want to make sure I can take care of myself. And Hawkeye has been working on my marksmanship with me."

A side door on the stage opened up, and some assistants carried out a mat and laid it on the floor. We all walked over to the open area.

"Our assistant Nick here would usually help us out with these types of things, but he's scared of making Captain America angry, so we figured the Captain could stand in."

"Well," I looked down at the clothes I was wearing. Grabbing on to Steve, I started to try to pry off my shoes while awkwardly holding on to him. Steve just said, "I got you" then knelt down to take them off for me.

As soon as he was kneeling in front of me, the crowd went crazy. And I just laughed and said, "I know right."

Ellen was fanning herself with her cue cards and said, "I don't even play for that team and I'm a little jealous of you right now."

Steve chuckled as he righted himself and set my shoes off to the side.

"She hasn't even been cleared for sparring again yet," he grumbled, "I'm too big for this. She can take me down, but she might hurt herself. Nick?" he gestured Nick to stand on the mats.

Steve walked over to me and cupped my face and whispered, "you're not going to hurt yourself doing this, right?" When I shook my head he dropped a kiss on my lips and said, "alright, then you got this, even in those jeans. You know the one- first one Natasha showed you. He's not nearly as heavy as clint or Ranger."

He stepped away and back over to Ellen who I could hear quietly asking him if my ribs were actually okay for this, saying she'd get me out of it if not and we could cut the whole thing before airing. "She's got this," he said, loud enough for everyone to hear.

I took a deep breath and then said, alright Nick, start walking toward me. When he did, I ran at him, jumped, and flipped him, thighs around his neck, just the way Natasha showed me. This time, for show, when I landed, I pulled his arms behind his back and cuffed him using the handcuffs Steve had slipped me without the camera seeing.

Ellen was laughing hysterically as she and Steve walked over to me, asking Nick if he was okay. Steve gave me a proud hug before walking over and uncuffing Nick. Helping Nick to his feet, Steve thanked him for his assistance then gave him a handshake and a smack on the back.

"Alright, while we're over here," or at least I am, Ellen said with a laugh as she noticed Steve lead me over to the chair to help me slip my shoes back on. Then we hustled back over. "He's quite chivalrous, isn't he?"

"He definitely is," I agreed.

"As I was saying, while we're over here, I thought we'd play a game. Steve, I hear you're a bit of an artist, so we're going to play a pictionary variant of my game, Heads Up. I'm going to hold this ipad up over my head and it is going to show you an animal. You'll draw the animal there, and Stephanie and I will guess what it is. Just drawing, no words, sounds, or acting out!"

"Okay," Steve readily agreed, walking over the the chart board and picking up the Sharpie. His hands flew over the paper and he quickly sketched out Ellen saying he just wanted to "test it out."

Then he flipped over the page and we started playing. We started out with Iguana which threw us for a loop for a while, but monkey and lobster were next which were easy. We were absolutely stumped on the next one, which seemed to be some sort of whale, so we passed, then got panda, rattle snake, llama, and human before time ran out. Ellen took a turn next and wasn't anywhere near as skilled an artist as steve. We got very stuck on chinchilla, and were able to guess swordfish and poodle before getting stuck on Cockroach. Steve had done each of his drawings on a separate page, so as we went to the commercial break, Steve signed them all and we went around passing them out to excited fans.

We finished off the show with the rest of the Avengers joining us and going through Ellen's "America Ninja Warrior" course, which they'd adjusted to make more difficult in a variety of ways. Tony even called out his Iron Man suit and went through it using that which, needless to say, granted him the fastest time, but since he didn't even touch any part of a couple of the obstacles, his victory was suspect. As we headed out from the studio, we stopped to chat again with Ellen and invite her to drop by if she was in New York sometime. Steve and I were going to need to think of some sort of thank you gift for Pepper because she really had managed to make that an enjoyable experience for us.


	16. Chapter 16

**Disclaimer: **The characters and things you recognize in this story don't belong to me. They belong to Marvel and Janet Evanovich. I'm pretty sure you'll recognize which is which. Mistakes belong to me.

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Chapter 16

_**Steph's POV**_

I was going to a ball. As something other than a security detail member; in fact, I was going as the girlfriend of one of the guests of honor. The past month had definitely changed my life in many big ways, and I have to admit that I was 100% on board with all of them. That didn't mean though that I wasn't nervous because I definitely was. Our interview the day before had gone well, but I found the very idea of being on a red carpet intimidating.

At least I had a very nice dress that hadn't been blown up because it had been in Tony's workshop. I chuckled to myself as I thought about the fact that Iron Man had designed a dress for me. When I'd asked him who I was supposed to say had designed the dress if asked, I was surprised when he looked at me like I was crazy for even asking. I figured he was okay with everyone knowing that he could do anything he felt like doing. Or something like that.

Steve was above me, giving me a massage as I was stretched out across the bed, and when he felt me chuckle, he asked, "tickle?"

"No, feels like heaven."

"Oh? Then why the laughter? Were you imagining me trying to dance with you tonight and making a fool of myself?"

"You won't make a fool of yourself!"

"You say that now, but you haven't seen me try to do the stuffy dances yet. I could barely sway with you when we were at the bar for your birthday, and that's easy compared to leading you around the floor in a waltz!"

"Well, we don't have to dance if you don't want to, I'm not too big of a fan of the 'stuffy dances' either. However, if we do dance, as long as we're having fun together, I don't care what we look like!"

Steve lifted up a little so that he could gently roll me from my belly onto my back and he asked, "so, if it wasn't the idea of me dancing, what was it that made you laugh?"

"Just the fact that Tony made the dress that I'm wearing today; it gets me every time I think about it."

Steve's hands were kneading along my thighs and as they slid upwards I smacked them away with a playful, "no more of that until after the ball!"

He leaned down and kissed me breathless before easing back and nibbling on my neck saying, "are you sure?"

"Yes, I need to head to Natasha's in just a couple minutes to start getting ready. I don't have time for that or the shower I'd need to take after! And we just did that a little while ago, so don't give me that pleading look! You'll be fine until we get home!"

I still loved calling it "home" and knowing we both lived there. From the smile that broke out on Steve's face when he heard me say the word, I was pretty sure he liked it too. He teased me a little more before relenting and allowing me to get up off our bed.

He raised an eyebrow when I got up and wrapped myself in a robe with just underwear on under it.

"You're going upstairs like that?"

"Yup!"

"And I'm not allowed to touch!"

"Nope!" I replied with a laugh. Giving him a quick kiss and a pat on the butt as I scooted out of the room past him and shimmied my way to the elevator. I told JARVIS to send me up to Clint and Natasha's floor, pleased when he played some music for me to boogie to in the elevator. When the doors opened again, I was mid wiggle, turned away from the door. Taken by surprise when I heard laughter, I spun around and saw Clint there laughing.

"I'm headed to your floor to hang out with Steve and the guys. Have fun!"

I let myself into the apartment and was pleased when the music that JARVIS had played for me in the elevator followed me in. Natasha let out a laugh of joy from in the direction of their kitchen and I followed the sound. As I walked in, I heard the pop of a cork and clapped my hands as I watched Natasha pour champagne into two glasses sitting on the counter.

We gave each other a little wordless toast then walked over to the living room and settled into the couch. Steve had given me a hard time about how long women needed to get ready, and honestly, we didn't need to start yet. Part of it was just hang-out time and getting into the party mood.

"You're looking happy," Natasha said with a grin.

"What can I say, I am happy. I'm here with my very good friend, drinking fabulous champagne after having just finished getting a massage from my drop-dead gorgeous boyfriend. It is a pretty good day."

"If the look of your neck is any indication, I'd say you got a little more than just a massage. You know, it is easier for the makeup artist if they don't have to cover hickies on top of everything else."

I giggled at that and said, "not too much more than the massage, but what can I say, he's such a good kisser."

"Oh, really?" Natasha replied with an eyebrow cocked.

"Yes, really. He told me about your kiss in that mall by the way. Said you surprised him and it was like kissing his sister would be if he'd had one. I can vouch for his skill."

"That's fair, I suppose. We definitely didn't have even a tiny bit of chemistry. So, better than Ranger?"

"So much better. I think having the all-in emotional connection helps too."

"All-in?"

I shrugged and demurred from answering in any more detail.

"Alright, well, I have more questions along that line, so clearly I'm going to need to hold off until you've had a little more of the champagne. And possibly until Pepper gets here to back me up."

"Can't hurt."

"Have you seen anything on the interviews you guys gave since Wednesday?"

"Nope. I decided not to look; have you?"

"Oh, come on Steph. It's great! You gotta look. I know some of the comments are awful, but, as we keep telling you, the internet loves you!"

Pepper had breezed in just in time to hear that last bit, and called from the kitchen where she was pouring her own glass, "she's right!"

When Pepper walked out and joined us, I was pleased to see that she was dressed the same as Natasha and I- in a robe. Girls day to the max in here. But, as ridiculous as we may have looked, if we were going to have to be changing after hair and makeup, robes were just easier. I scooched over on the couch closer to Natasha and Pepper sat on my opposite side. We all three kicked our feet up on the coffee table, and the other ladies leaned in toward me as Pepper had JARVIS pull up YouTube, which he did rather reluctantly.

We started out with the video of Ellen "scaring" me in the dressing room bathroom which I was shocked to see already had over a million views. Then we switched to the clips of our interviews and my self defense demonstration before shifting over to the other short interviews we'd done for other shows. And then, of course, we fell down a bit of a YouTube rabbit hole.

After a video of John Oliver talking about Women's pay equality, we got sidetracked into a serious discussion on the topic. Well, or maybe semi-serious given the fact that we'd already had most of the second bottle of champagne at that point. I was pleased to hear of how seriously Stark Industries took the issue. Natasha started asking me about Rangeman pay, and I mentioned that I wouldn't take the full amount they'd offered me until recently and I got lectured more than a little on that topic. I hadn't thought I was worth it, and Natasha just challenged me to go in and ask Ranger the next time I was in the office what the capture rate of their next best bounty hunter was. I tried to put my record down to dumb luck, and they weren't having any of it, so I agreed to ask the question the next time I was at Rangeman Manhattan.

At that point, I let spill my attempts at recruiting Bucky into Rangeman as my new partner. There was a bit of contemplative silence after I mentioned it before both women offered their support for the idea. I was most surprised by Natasha's agreement on the matter, figuring she'd be looking to recruit him for SHIELD/The Avengers Initiative, but she just said, "no, I think you're right. I don't think going on the regular missions like Clint and I, and Steve to a lesser extent these days, do would work for him. But I also don't think he'd be able to sit around the Tower and draw or research like the others do to kill time. He'd probably wind up taking missions just for something to do, and it would be a bad thing for him. Like you said, he'd still be able to help on the large scale missions, but missions wouldn't be his life. And I think we'd all feel much better about sending you off to work in the morning with The Winter Soldier backing you up."

"Come on, I'm not that bad. We were just talking about how good I am at my job! I don't need _that_ much backup. A standard Rangeman has always been enough."

"That may be, but who knows if that would have always been true. Even you readily admit you have a knack for attracting the crazies. Plus, now that you're so publicly linked to Steve and the rest of us, you're likely to draw even more. And you'd be the easiest to grab. No, don't get offended! You'd put up more of a fight than Pepper or Jane, but they mostly stay inside Stark Industries protected buildings. You work on the streets. You're actually out and about more than ANY of us. It isn't an insult to your skill, there are honestly the most opportunities to grab or hurt you."

I didn't like it, but even I had to admit she was right, so I begrudgingly admitted as much. Natasha reached over to the open bottle of champagne and upended the rest of it into my glass. Once I'd had a couple more sips while we watched some more silly videos, she nudged me and said, "so, come on, you gotta dish before the hair and makeup people get here. Let's start with after the birthday party at the beach house. How'd he like the lingerie?"

I started chugging the rest of my glass in one big gulp as I blushed. While I was occupied, Pepper asked, "what lingerie?"

Natasha explained the lingerie that she'd gotten me as part of my gift and confirmed my suspicion that it'd been custom made. She promised to give us both the information for the boutique and to take us in that weekend as well before giving me an impatient look.

I sighed. "He loved it. Drove him crazy; he asked me to keep the bra on while we…" I trailed off, but at the delighted laughter from the other two, I could tell they knew very well what we…

To my great surprise, it was Pepper who asked the totally inappropriate, "so, come on, you've gotta tell us. Does all of him live up to the 'super soldier' label? Everything to scale size-wise"

I blushed but nodded my head mostly because I figured anything less would call it into question. When they both mumbled a half hearted "bitch" I wiggled my eyebrows and added a cheeky, "it isn't just size either, by the way. Stamina and recovery time too."

At that they both groaned, and this time it was me barking out a laugh. What could I say, it was the wine talking! At least that would be my defense if Steve found out.

They asked some more questions, some of which I fired back (and was pleasantly surprised when they answered), and some of which I refused to answer. I knew Steve wouldn't want me to give that much detail, and frankly it was private between us.

We still had a few more minutes before anyone else arrived when I surprised myself by blurting out, "Steve kinda, sorta, almost proposed after the safe room incident."

"WHAT?!" Pepper shrieked.

I walked them through the whole conversation and both were in a fit of giggles by the end of it.

"I would pay money to see the look on Steve's face after he realized he'd accidentally said that out loud!" an overjoyed Natasha blurted out.

"It was pretty adorably priceless." Getting a good look at Pepper's face, I pointed a finger at her and said, "don't go starting wedding plans or picking out china patterns for us! It isn't happening anytime soon."

"But he wants to and you want to," she whined back at me.

"That may be, but I think we can all agree it is too soon."

"Nope," said Pepper just as Natasha was saying, "I disagree."

"Oh yeah, then why are neither of _you_ married?!" I demanded.

"Who says we aren't?" asked Natasha, nodding her head at me when I did a double take. "We just don't publicize it because of the whole assassin thing. It isn't good for the badass image."

Pepper just sighed and said, "Tony's not ready. I understand and respect that about him, but it is a bit frustrating sometimes. I love him anyway though, and I think he may almost be there."

"Anyway," Natasha said, redirecting the conversation back at me, "I think we'd all agree that time doesn't really matter and who knows how much any of us have of it anyway. If you want to get married, get married and fuck what anyone else has to say. Anyone who knows you both can see how perfectly you fit together."

Pepper was nodding her head in agreement and gave Natasha a high-five. I just protested again and said it was too soon and that we'd be perfectly fine waiting too. They were quickly convincing me to their side of the argument and my brain was still fighting it, so I was relieved when there was a knock on the door.

We spent the next couple of hours drinking even more champagne while getting our hair, nails, and makeup done. Waxing had been done the day before. Ever conscious of the fact that there were others around, probably listening, we didn't dig into any more meaty conversations. Anyone brought into our personal apartments was thoroughly vetted, but we were all wary anyway. For the majority of the time, Pepper and Natasha provided me with their various red carpet survival tips and tricks.

Once we'd all finished up and complimented each other profusely, Natasha led us into "my" bedroom, which she eagerly reminded me was always at my disposal. Inside I was surprised but excited to find another set of lingerie. It was the same basic design to match Steve's uniform and would match my dress quite well, but it was cut differently to accommodate my dress. All I could do was enthusiastically grab Natasha into a hug and bounce back and forth with her in my arms laughing. Pepper was eyeing the set that Natasha was giving her, modeled after Iron Man's armor and seemed amused, but thanked her and said she would in fact be wearing it that night.

Before we changed, however, we decided that we should grab some dinner only to have JARVIS announce that the men were waiting for us down in my apartment and had dinner ready. Amused, we wandered down together.

As we walked into the apartment, we were met by cheers, compliments, and a "finally! I'm starving!" that came from Tony.

"Hey!" I replied, "we didn't know you were waiting for us otherwise we would have hurried! Or at least I would have, I'm starving too!"

Steve's eyes danced with laughter as he pulled me to him and gave me a kiss on the cheek, "have you been feeding her drinks instead of food?" he asked Natasha with a raised brow.

Natasha let out a very un-Black Widow giggle and said "maybe!" before giving Clint a similarly uncharacteristic kiss. Well, I'm sure they kissed regularly, but it was uncharacteristic considering that I don't think I'd seen more than a pat from them in terms of PDAs before. When she finished, she turned to Steve and said, "see, we used the good stuff, you're not going to mess up her makeup if you kiss her. Just watch the hair! No hands in the hair!"

Steve took her at her word and pulled me in for a kiss, giving it his all. If someone had asked, I don't think I would have remembered my name when he pulled back.

"Huh, maybe Steph's right and you are a good kisser if the look on her face is any indicator."

There was laughter and agreement all around at that, and I blushed and buried my face in Steve's chest. I did, however, give a little giggle of my own just for Steve when he whispered a "sweet, thanks!" to me.

Bucky piped up with a "Steve always did have a thing for ladies in red lipstick," when I pulled back, and this time it was Steve's turn to try to hide a blush. I just squeezed his hand and asked, "so, what's for dinner?"

We walked into the kitchen where there were burgers galore split onto little trays with fries and shakes. Each was labeled with our names because it turns out that Stark Industries's internal catering is fancier than McDonalds. I guess that shouldn't have been _too_ surprising. We carried them into the sitting area, splitting up a little to distribute ourselves among the free seats. I took a big sip of my shake as I sat down on a loveseat with Steve and did a double take, almost spitting it out when I tasted it, a look of surprise clearly on my face.

Steve just jumped in alarm and said, "what?!" while Tony burst out into laughter. Clearly no one else had tasted theirs yet because they all looked at me puzzled as I just handed mine to Steve to taste. He took a sip and when he tasted the vodka he just rolled his eyes at Tony before handing it back to me.

"If she gets sick in your limo, you have no one to blame but yourself!"

"Ha! I'm not going to get sick! And we're not taking my limo!"

"Famous last words," Sam piped up before taking a hearty sip of his milkshake and nodding his head in appreciation.

"I like to live dangerously, plus, you might be thanking me later when she's not puking from nerves," Tony replied. Then when Steve took a cautious sip of his shake, Tony added, "don't worry, Cap. I know it's not your style and completely _wasted_ on you anyway. Pun intended."

We all groaned and then set about eating our dinner. Bucky ate quickly before heading out and telling us he'd see us inside after we got to the ball. Once the rest of us had finished, Bruce asked, "not that you ladies don't all look lovely, but weren't we supposed to leave five minutes ago?"

Pepper let out a gasp of surprise and yelled out "Avengers, assemble! Uniforms for you all! Tony, a reliable suit, not an experimental one! We'll all meet in the common floor in 10 minutes."

Steve looked cast a dubious glance at me in my robe as Pepper dragged me out of the room and I called back to him, "seriously! The hard part is done. We'll be ready within 10! We just have to change!"

Natasha, Clint, Pepper, and I clamored back onto the elevator first, rushing into Clint and Natasha's apartment. Pepper and I hurried into my room and turned our backs to each other while changing into our new underwear before fastening each others' gowns. We double checked our makeup and hair then pulled on our shoes and grabbed our purses before dashing back out and to the elevator.

"Three minutes to spare!" I enthused when we stepped out onto the common floor to find that we were the first ones there. Relaxing a little, I caught my reflection in one of the mirrors in the living room. I was still just in awe of this dress Tony had made for me. Apparently he'd found the firm structure of corset-like architecture to be the easiest to add body armor to without making me look bulky. And we wanted as much of my vital body parts covered in as much of that material as possible since, as we were all painfully aware, there was still a sniper out there.

The result was a fitted corset-top, mermaid style floor length gown. It was done in a beautiful navy that was going to match Steve's uniform perfectly. The top of the bodice was heavily beaded with small silver star beads and they tapered in number on their way down, creating an ombre effect. True to my words when he'd gifted them to me, I absolutely refused to take off his dogtags and exchange them for a "more fitting" necklace when Pepper and Natasha enquired on the matter. It fit perfectly into the sweetheart neckline anyway, and I liked the effect. It kept the long gown and all the beading from getting too girly for me. Sitting across my waist was a navy silk belt that perfectly matched in color and had a big silver star embroidered on it. Tony had added some strategic slits in the skirt to allow me a better range of movement than a standard mermaid dress.

I smiled as Steve walked up behind me and settled in next to me in the mirror. He smiled and I just rested my head on his shoulder and said, "I guess we clean-up alright, huh?"

"You certainly do; you're absolutely gorgeous."

"So are you."

He slid his arms around my waist and turned me to him and just said, "time to go, are you ready for this?"

I nodded my head and he held out his hand expectantly. I handed him my purse and he checked over my gun, taser, and pepper spray that I'd, rather expertly, managed to cram in there. Alright, alright, there was no skill required, the purse had specifically been designed for me and my weapons. I wasn't surprised though when I turned to the group gathered around watching us with smiles on their faces and saw Natasha holding out a pair of thigh holsters for me. One held what had to be the smallest gun I'd ever seen and the other held a few knives. I used the slits in the sides of the dress to slip them on, ignoring the men who were clearly watching with interest. When I finished, I grabbed my purse from Steve, then linked one arm through Natasha's and the other through Pepper's and tossed out a, "you coming with us?" at the men over my shoulder as we walked to the elevator.

They all hustled to join us, and I was surprised when the elevator took us to the helipad instead of the garage. I was even more shocked to see a quinjet sitting there. Looked like we were going to be arriving in super spy style!

"Couldn't risk you puking in my limo, Steph. After all, Cap said it would be all my fault!" explained Tony, and I just laughed figuring that this had probably been the plan all along.

As we climbed in, most people chose to strap into a chair, but I just settled myself standing with my back nestled into Steve's front and let him brace us. I knew he wouldn't let me fall, and he seemed perfectly happy with the arrangement as well. Even the comfort of his arms couldn't keep me from starting to shift nervously though once we were in the air for what I knew was going to be a very, very short flight. So in addition to keeping me physically steady, Steve spent the handful of seconds we were in flight whispering soothing words of love and encouragement in my ear trying to keep me calm.

When we landed, we turned to face the loading door. The team was standing in a semicircle with me actually in front of Steve and his arm around my waist on one end and Pepper in a matching position in front of Tony on the other end.

"Just take a deep breath," whispered Steve as the back of the quinjet opened up with the red carpet directly in front of us. Hundreds of flashbulbs started going off and I was momentarily blinded as the others started moving out into the chaos. Steve just moved up next to me and kept his arm around my waist, steering me forward after everyone else had moved on.

Our Stark Industries-appointed "handler", who we'd been introduced to earlier in the day, approached us, giving us space, but guiding us down the walkway, making sure we stopped at the appropriate reporters with whom we had agreements of sorts. Each time someone asked me who I was wearing, I replied "Stark" and no one really seemed to know what to do with that statement. At one point, a frustrated Steve replied, "why does it even matter what she's wearing?" but I just squeezed his hand and politely answered the question. That was definitely a battle for another day.

A few of the reporters were just overly aggressive and it clearly put Steve off a bit. He tried to be polite, but there was one pushy woman in particular who really got under his skin. She started out by trying to flirt with Steve and making it clear that she thought he was quite a catch and not acknowledging that he'd been caught. It just got worse when she made several comments and asked a series of intrusive questions often phrased in a way that made it clear she didn't think I was good enough for Steve and that I was using him and had probably hired the person who shot me to get him to stay around. When she physically latched onto Steve as he tried to guide me away and asked, "what did you give _her_ for her birthday?" Steve lost his cool for the first time.

"First of all, she has a name, and it is Ms. Plum. Second of all, gifts are private, and I'm not going to tell you that."

"It looks like those are dogtags she is wearing, did she have those made?"

"Those are mine, and I gave them to Stephanie. That's all we'd like to answer on the topic."

"You recently publicly announced that you're living together. Are you concerned that you're setting a bad example for the impressionable kids out there who look up to you?"

Steve blew out an exasperated breath, and I just replied even though she was clearly doing her best to ignore me, "no, we're not concerned about that. We're in love and we see no reason to hide that from anyone. Living together is quite socially acceptable and I think anyone, soldier, policeman, fireman, superhero, etc. willing to sacrifice his or her life for the safety of others is a fine example for any child to look up to. Now please let go of _my boyfriend_. As you can see, we still have several people we need to talk to before we go inside."

I rubbed a hand soothingly up and down Steve's arm as we moved on, murmuring platitudes to him before we got to the next reporter. Thankfully that one was much kinder and we left feeling much better. We both let out sighs of relief as we moved on after that one, and I stopped for a few seconds and turned to smile at Steve. A few fans screamed in excitement at him, and he turned his head to smile and wave. I watched his face relax even more as he did so, and just fell a little more in love with him. That was when I felt a weird sensation on my neck and reached my hand up to it as I heard a weird echoing sound bounce off the buildings around us.

Steve turned back to me, his eyes wide with shock. I moved my hand back down and looked at it before I felt myself be thrown back further away from Steve. As I was in the air, all I could think was "oh fuck, not again."

_**Steve's POV**_

I was vaguely aware of screaming in the crowds around us, as I rushed forward to Stephanie grabbing my shield from my back.

"Stephanie is down! She's been shot. Where's the shooter? Do we have the shooter? I need medics or an airlift. I repeat, Steph's been shot!" I was screaming into my watch as I used my other arm to grab Stephanie under her arms and pull her behind a big statue. In that time, I heard Bucky call in that he had the shooter. Other Rangemen that I hadn't even known were in the area were confirming single shooter down. In my peripheral vision, I could see Sam off to the side, trying to keep Bruce calm.

Stephanie let go of her neck again and I took her hand and pressed it back into her neck saying, "Honey, listen to me, you need to keep pressure on your neck, okay?" as I grabbed one of the knives from her thigh holster before remembering that the dress was made of armor. Instead I found her zipper and slid open the bodice of her dress open, looking for a bullet wound or wounds in her chest. I let out a sigh of relief and mentally promised myself that we'd name our first child after Tony when I saw no wounds.

"Okay, Steph, stay with me. Just look at me and breathe, okay. Bucky got the shooter, you're going to be okay. The dress stopped the bullets in your chest. I know it hurts but we've got to keep pressure on your neck, okay? We gotta try to stop the bleeding."

I could see the panic in her eyes and the shock starting to set in as I took over applying pressure making sure to keep it firm but not too strong. I could tell she was having a hard time figuring out what was going on, but I was pretty sure she was aware that she'd been shot in the neck and was losing blood fast. "Steve, I'm scared. I feel really, really weird."

"You're going to be okay. Just keep fighting for me, okay. Don't talk, just focus on breathing."

Natasha ran up and I could see Pepper standing off to the side with her hands over her mouth and eyes wide. Natasha called out over the comms and to Pepper to get the Quinjet back. I noticed as Natasha took over applying pressure that Pepper had already had her phone out and I heard the quinjet landing. As she was applying pressure, Natasha was coaching Steph on her breathing, trying to get her to slow it down and decrease her heart rate.

Clint was up by Natasha at this point and he said, "alright, Cap, here's what we're going to do. We're not waiting for the medics, okay. It'll take them longer to get here, not to mention to the hospital, than it'll take us to get her to the hospital in the jet. You and I are going to carefully lift her. I've got her shoulders and head, you get the rest. Natasha is going to keep the pressure on. We're going to get to the back of the jet and set her down then do the same thing to get her into the ER, okay?"

I nodded my head in agreement and said, "on my count. Three, two, one." We picked her up and moved in perfect synchronicity to the jet. I didn't even registered the continued screams and crying or the approaching sirens as we moved. The whole time Sam was yelling in the comms filling Ranger, who it turned out had Steph's medical power of attorney in on the situation. JARVIS answered a question about quinjet speed and before we'd made it in, the pilot was ready to fly us at Ranger's instruction to a Level 1 Trauma Center in Syracuse.

As we were setting Steph on the floor of the jet, Bruce ran in with Thor and Sam, apparently finally with the Hulk under control. He told Natasha to maintain pressure and was trying to take over getting Steph's to slow her heart rate and seemed to be having at least a little success. I was surprised she was still conscious.

I stayed where I was, hardly breathing and trying not to think about anything but getting Steph into the hospital. She was going to make it. She _had_ to make it. A little bit of the panic started to filter in when she was staring me in the eyes when she passed out. Throughout the entire time, she'd had her hand clenched around her necklace only to release it as she gave herself over to unconsciousness.

After that, I felt like time just wasn't passing, each breath I took after she closed her eyes convincing me we weren't going to get her there fast enough. When I felt the quinjet begin to land, Sam stood next to me and said, "alright, they're ready for her, get her to the stretcher, Cap then let her go, Cap. Nat's going in with her until she's in the OR. Surgeons are standing by."

The door started to open and I looked at Clint and Natasha, and said, "my count. Three, two, one." We had her out the door and on the stretcher, Natasha straddling her to keep the pressure on until they were ready for her to let go, and they wheeled her away. Pepper gently led me over to a waiting assistant who led our group down to a large private waiting room on the surgical floor.

I sat in a chair with my elbows on my knees staring at the ground by my feet. For a while, I was just praying, not really allowing myself to fully process the seriousness of the situation. I heard a few additional groups of people come in, not really sure how long it had been or how they'd gotten to us so quickly. As time slowly stretched on and we hadn't heard anything, reality slowly set in. I tried telling myself that no news was good news, but I knew that wasn't always the case. I refocused my gaze on my hands which were covered in Steph's blood and all I could see was those few seconds over again.

I'd been so irritated by the one reporter, but the following interview had gone well and we were both so relieved. We'd looked at each other and smiled thinking we were almost inside and would be done with the worst of it. Little did we know. Some fans had cried out my name, so I'd turned to smile and wave at them, pausing to let them take a couple pictures.

While my back was turned, I heard the crack of a rifle. My first instinct was to look for the gunman in the direction I thought the noise had originated, but when there were just skyscrapers and windows all around me, I couldn't see anything. That'd been one second, maybe two. I turned back around and saw Stephanie with a hand covered in blood on her neck. The look of confusion when she pulled it away and saw the blood would haunt me for the rest of my life. That and the sight of her flying away from me with the impact of the next bullet.

I didn't even realize that I was crying, and I definitely wasn't aware of anyone trying to get my attention. Thank goodness everyone else in that room was thinking better than me and recognized the state I was in before letting the doctor approach me because I felt a hand clamp down on my shoulder and the next thing I knew I was being firmly pressed against a wall by Thor and Bucky with Sam in my line of sight next to me calmly saying my name until I was back in my own mind and relaxed my body again.

Once they'd verified that I was okay, Thor and Bucky released me. I turned to see fresh bruises on both of their faces and I mumbled out an apology which they both shrugged off.

"The doctor wants to talk to us," Sam said.

I turned and focused on the woman standing in front of me in a lab coat.

With a remarkably calm demeanor, she addressed the room, "I'm Dr. Chastain, I'm Stephanie's surgeon. As you know, she was shot in the neck. I have no idea how, but it managed to miss any arteries, which is amazing. I'm sorry it took us so long to update the large group you, but after we finished the surgery, we took some scans and found a clot in her carotid where we'd repaired the original damage. We got consent from Mr. Manoso to do another surgery to get rid of that. She coded twice during the surgery and we were able to revive her. At this point, she is alive and her condition has stabilized though she is still critical."

My mouth felt incredibly dry as I asked, my voice breaking, "is she going to be okay?"

"Now that we have her stabilized our primary concern is going to be swelling. We're doing everything we can to minimize swelling on her spinal cord, which could cause damage. We'll continue scanning her for clots as well. Obviously, I can't make any promises, but at this point I am cautiously optimistic." She looked between Natasha, Clint, and I who were clearly all soaked in blood and said, "you did a very good job getting her here the way you did and as quickly as you did. You gave her more than a fighting chance. We have her sedated and we'll be keeping her that way for at least the next several hours, but if you'll scrub up a little, you can see her."

I nodded my head and murmured a "thanks" which was echoed throughout the room. Natasha, Ranger, and I followed one of the nurses, who directed Natasha and I to a sink to wash our hands before taking us to Stephanie's room. Before she opened the door, she warned us about the machines that she was going to be attached to and we just nodded. Nothing could prepare me for the sight of her in that bed when the door finally opened. I felt my breath whoosh out of me and for several seconds I just stood there frozen before Natasha nudged me into the room. Once I was moving forward though, I didn't stop until I was right next to her on the side with fewer things hooked up to it and had her hand in mine. It was colder than usual, and I looked at her chest for a full minute just watching her breathe and reassuring myself that she was alive.

Natasha pushed a chair up behind me and I sat down. I pulled my other hand up so I was holding hers in both of mine and rested my head next to them. I closed my eyes and said a quick prayer of thanks that she was still with me and for her continued recovery. When I opened my eyes again, I rolled my head to the side, not picking it up as I looked at the nurse and asked, "her necklace?"

The nurse walked over to the other side of the bed and reached under it pulling out a plastic bag with Stephanie's personal effects and held it out at arms length before she handed it to me. I dug through it without a thought and grabbed out her necklace before dumping the bag on the ground. When the nurse flinched, Natasha just murmured, "the safety is on and he knows that" before grabbing the bag up and taking the weapons out to stash them on herself so that they wouldn't be laying around. I opened up the necklace clasp and reached to put it on her before hesitating. I looked at the nurse waiting until I got a nod of approval before putting it on Steph where it belonged.

After a while, Natasha and Ranger drifted out to allow the others to take turns filtering in and out. Thankfully no one really spoke much when they were there, allowing me to sit in contemplative silence. A few times, if one of my teammates, Sam, or Bucky was there, I managed to drift off for a short nap that would only last a few minutes. When morning rolled around, the doctor told us that everything was going well and Stephanie's vitals had stabilized and swelling was down. They were going to lower the sedatives and let her wake up.

For the next hour, I sat there, perfectly still, except for my thumb that was stroking the back of her hand, waiting. I'd felt faint movements off and on, but when she really started to stir and the monitors started picking up their rhythm, I looked up at Natasha and said, "get the doctor, she's waking up."

Before Natasha got back, Stephanie opened her eyes and it was a beautiful sight that I'd worried I'd never get to see again. I felt tears of relief threaten to leak out when she focused on me and squeezed my hand before choking out a hoarse "Steve". She licked her lips then said, "ugh, I wish I was still drunk."

The doctor breezed in just as Stephanie said that and murmured, "that's a good sign" before going through an initial set of tests. Then a nurse and an orderly came in to wheel Steph off for more imaging and additional tests.

While we waited the doctor said, "she woke up pretty quickly, her vitals are good, and her initial cognitive tests were good. Assuming all the tests come back as I'm expecting them to, I'll be moving her condition down from critical to serious and we'll move her off this floor and to a longer-term room where you'll all be more comfortable. You should know, she is going to need to be here for at least a couple days, possibly to be in some sort of medical facility for longer, and she's got a couple months of recovery ahead of her before she's feeling back to normal."

So saying, the doctor turned to walk out of the room with Natasha and Ranger following behind her, talking medical facilities, security, and the type of equipment and care that would be needed. I took the opportunity to stretch my legs a bit and wander up and down the hall a little before I saw Stephanie being wheeled back. I stood there watching and returning the smile that broke out on her face when she saw me. As her bed pulled up next to me, she reached out her hand and I took it in mine before turning a confused look at the orderly when he just stopped in the hallway. Before he could say anything, the doctor returned and said she'd looked over the test results and they were ready to move Stephanie. Pepper scooted into the room we were vacating to make sure nothing got left behind, then we led a procession to the elevator. Almost everyone else waited for a second elevator after they were told the room number.

When we made it upstairs to the room on the fourth floor, it was clearly a VIP suite rather than a room, but I wasn't going to complain. Instead of a standard hospital bed, there was a larger one that looked like a regular bed, but able to have the angle adjusted as desired. There was an attached bathroom and a small dining area in addition to a decently-sized sitting area. As the nursing staff set about settling Stephanie in and reconnecting monitors, Natasha held out a bag to me and shoved me into the bathroom. Inside I found a change of clothes and a razor, while the bathroom had towels and toiletries.

I cleaned myself up and changed into the fresh clothes quickly before walking back out and finding that they hadn't quite finished setting Stephanie up. I looked down at the bag which now contained my bloodied uniform and wasn't quite sure what to do with it. Generally it was either on me or in the tower, and I didn't really want to set it down for fear that someone would take it. Tony just held out his hand, and I gave him a grateful smile as I passed off the bag.

Once Stephanie was settled, she looked absolutely exhausted. They gave her something to help her get some more sleep and she patted the big empty spot on the bed next to her. Without even a thought about arguing, I climbed onto the bed next to her and pressed a kiss to her forehead and held her hand. I felt her drift off and looked around the room. Ranger and Tank were standing guard outside the door for a shift. Inside the room, Clint and Natasha were crammed together stretched out on the couch. Tony and Pepper said they were going to go make some arrangements, and Sam and Bruce went to help them. Sitting on either side of the bed looking quite alert were Bucky and Thor who just murmured, "we've got the watch, Captain." With their assurance, I closed my eyes and allowed myself to actually sleep like I hadn't done since the night before the ball.

* * *

**A/N:** I know, I know, but no cliffhanger; Steph is going to be fine. And I promise, I have my reasons. Also, I totally nerded out and looked up quinjet speed (according to Marvel wiki). It would be about a 7.5 min flight according to my calculations from Manhattan to Syracuse, so faster than waiting for an ambulance to come and take them to a hospital in Manhattan. Also, the bit about no Level 1 Trauma Centers appears to be true- NYC may have its own ranking system it uses, but as far as American College of Surgeons is concerned, there are no _verified_ Level 1 Trauma Centers in Manhattan.


	17. Chapter 17

**Disclaimer: **The characters and things you recognize in this story don't belong to me. They belong to Marvel and Janet Evanovich. I'm pretty sure you'll recognize which is which. Mistakes belong to me.

* * *

Chapter 17

_**Steve's POV**_

I woke up to the sounds of whispering and fingers gently running through my hair. At some point while sleeping, I'd slid down the bed a little and curled myself into Steph. One arm strung across her hips and my head resting on the bed next to her torso. Gently pulling myself up to sitting so as to not jostle Steph, I rubbed my hands over my face to try to wake myself up a little more.

I looked around the room and saw that Sam and Tony had replaced Bucky and Thor, while Natasha and Clint still slept on the couch. Or at least, their eyes were still closed. Given the fact that the whispering was between Steph and some of the medical staff, I doubt that they were actually still asleep.

"What's going on?"

Stephanie sighed. "They wanted to run some more tests, and I was trying to get them to hold off until you woke up. Which it looks like is now, so, if you'll help me into that chair there, I'll be back in a bit. I did as she asked then watched as they wheeled her away.

"How long was I out?"

"About six hours."

I stared at Sam with disbelief that they'd allowed me to sleep that long and he just shrugged, "look, she was asleep too, so they decided to let her sleep instead of running tests. We figured that as long as she was asleep and doing well, you could sleep too. It's going to be a long few days here, so might as well rest when you have the chance."

Tony spoke up then, "Bruce and Pepper went back to the Tower to oversee the final outfitting and set-up of the medical floor. It's something that we've been working on since we rebuilt the tower, and I'm sorry we didn't have it done yet. It wasn't too high of a priority because of SHIELD's facility until recently, but it is almost set and we should have it up and functional by the time she's ready to be moved out of here."

I nodded my head in agreement and got out a, "Thanks, Tony. For this. And, oh man, for the dress. You saved her life with your armor. Again. I can't even…" I trailed off, no longer able to put my feelings to words as I started choking up.

"Hey, hey, it's fine. She's going to be okay. Now, we have a couple other things we need to talk about. We've got a bit of a good news, bad news situation going on. Which do you want first?"

Rubbing my hands over my face, I just said, "bad."

"One of the nursing staff leaked to the press that Stephanie is here as well as her initial records, medical information, condition, and so on. The paparazzi are camped out everywhere and Rangeman has already caught a handful trying to sneak in here. We're just going to need to keep an eye out for them, and strategize appropriately when it is time to leave."

"And the good news?"

"Well, the hospital is obviously very embarrassed and apologetic that this happened. In order to make it up to Stephanie, they're going to loan us Dr. Chastain and a couple of her preferred staff for two months when we leave. They'll see Stephanie through her recovery and also help us get our Avengers and Family trauma center started."

"Uh, I mean, that's great, but are these people okay with it?"

"Very much so. They've even agreed to background checks without a fuss. I think they're rather hopeful it will turn into a job offer to stay, and it very well might depending on how things go."

"Does that mean we might get to leave sooner if they're coming with us?"

"We're going to have a conference call with Pepper and Bruce in a couple hours that the medical staff will sit in on as well. And Stephanie if she's feeling up for it. We can all decide then."

"Sounds reasonable to me."

As we all probably should have expected, Stephanie was not up for much by way of conversation at all that first day, Saturday. Nor was she able to participate in the conference call, and I had a difficult time convincing myself that it wasn't a bad sign and I shouldn't be disappointed. Not in her, mind you, I could never be disappointed in her. I think she'd just bounced back so quickly from the first shooting that I'd expected her to immediately have her spark back. I suppose the large amount of blood loss was probably the main difference.

Needless to say, we didn't leave that day, which just gave us more time to strategize and make sure everything was set up. Word had spread quickly of our location though, which was making me antsy. In addition to the press, fans had begun to camp out outside the hospital. Many of whom had brought gifts and they were becoming an increasing security concern.

I was greatly relieved when I woke up the Sunday morning in the hospital to Steph's smiling face and giggles as she whispered to Bucky who was sitting by her side of the bed. I knew the laughter and whispering meant that Bucky was probably sharing an embarrassing story, but I honestly couldn't bring myself to be bothered by the information. I was just so happy to see her look happy and mentally present.

"You telling my girl stories about me, Buck?"

"You know it, Punk."

Stephanie's smile had gotten even wider when I called her my girl, so I returned it before leaning over to give her a quick kiss and ask, "how're you feeling, Sweetheart?"

"Mmmmm, even better now," she responded with her eyes still closed. "Plus I was telling Bucky I was worried about how you'd take having to help a recovering me again so soon, and he decided to tell me some gems about all the times he had to take care of you when you were sick."

"Oh did he, now?" I replied while sending a pointed look in Bucky's direction. "Well, he has a point. I definitely know what it is like to not be feeling your best, and I'll never hold that against you. Especially considering this happened while we were out on a date! Though, it would behoove Bucky to remember that he is not the only one with stories he can tell."

"You should definitely both compete to see who can come up with the most embarrassing story to tell me about the other one!"

Bucky and I both just laughed at that, and I excused myself to the bathroom to take care of morning business.

When I came back out, I was pleased to see that the room had filled up with our friends. Dr. Chastain entered and announced that Steph was clear to be moved whenever she felt up to it, and Steph seemed eager for it. Then she dropped a mini-bombshell.

She had been given a replacement phone the night before and while browsing the web, she'd come across coverage of her shooting outside the ball. There had been a couple of pictures of us before the shooting and even fewer mentions of the charity itself- a children's charity for children with parents who had died as a result of violence. Instead, everyone had been showing video of the shooting and the aftermath. Showing pictures of Steph, bleeding and half undressed as I'd been tending to her wound. Or pictures of us moving her limp body into the Quinjet with Natasha applying pressure and blood everywhere. There was also a lot of invasive coverage of her medical records that had been leaked from the Friday night and early Saturday before the nurse had been discovered and fired.

There was also a lot of coverage of fans of mine (who it was becoming increasingly clear were also fans of Stephanie now) holding vigil outside the hospital and attempting to send get well gifts here and to the Tower. Apparently that had led Steph to the conclusion that she wanted to leave the hospital out the front door and make comments to those gathered on the way out.

We were all concerned about the safety of this, but Steph asked, "I thought we had the sniper in custody or something?"

"Or something," Bruce muttered.

"What does that mean?"

"Honey, she's dead. Bucky killed her within a minute of her opening fire."

"I'm really sorry I didn't catch her before she opened fire, Steph," added Bucky. "I guess it turns out that she was unskilled, so our primary area of focus was too far way. We assumed it was a skilled sniper who would take a longer range shot."

"It's not your fault, Bucky. Do we have an ID? Do we know who she was? And seriously, it was a woman? Isn't sniping usually a male crime?"

"More often than one," said Ranger. He looked at her pensively and added, "it was Joyce."

"Joyce?! Joyce Bernhardt?!" Ranger nodded, and Steph gaped for several moments before getting out a "what? How?"

Lester cleared his throat. "From what we've been able to ascertain, one of her more recent conquests was a SWAT sniper whom she convinced to spend a lot of their time together teaching her how to shoot. He had a thing for women who could shoot and she played that up to get a lot of one-on-one instruction around the time you dumped Joe and he turned her down at a bar. It also seems she was jealous of you being brought into Rangeman for Bounty Hunting. Goodness knows she'd tried many times to be a bounty hunter and just couldn't cut it. It always irked her that you were capable of something that she couldn't do."

Bobby stepped in at this point, " Anyway she as spreading tons of vicious rumors about you that somehow none of us heard so we didn't have any warning on how much she'd escalated. It appears that starting the day after the Trenton papers had the pictures and stories about you and Captain America at your apartment, she began spending hours and hours daily at shooting ranges trying to improve her sniping. She also started telling anyone who would listen that you were evil and must be brainwashing these men into dating you. Long story short, it appears that you landing a superhero pushed her and her jealousy over the deep end. She was also the one who took the shot at you last month. So, yes, your sniper threat is gone."

Steph asked some more clarifying questions and then shot down pretty much every argument we made until we agreed to let her hold a mini press conference and meet & greet on her way out, as long as she ate a big breakfast and took a nap while all the arrangements were made and her discharge paperwork was being created.

A couple hours later, Natasha had helped Stephanie become remarkably presentable given the situation- you'd hardly know anything was off other than the huge bandage on her neck and the fact that she'd be in a wheelchair. As the elevator opened to the lobby, a surprisingly large number of staff and patients (who I admit the team and I had managed to sneak visits with- especially those who had been in the children's ward), were spread throughout the lobby, watching and cheering.

The cheers grew even louder as the front door opened and I wheeled Stephanie out, surrounded by the Avengers fully armed and in battle gear. Rangeman was providing crowd control and motorcade support. We stopped off to the side where the camera crews were set up and Pepper handed Stephanie a microphone. Steph quickly turned more toward the crowd and partially away from the cameras.

"Hi everyone, I just wanted to say a few things, First of all I want to thank my friends and Steve who eliminated the threat and got me here so quickly, as well as the staff here who provided me such outstanding care. I'd also like to thank those of you who have been sending your kind words, prayers, and thoughts my way these past couple of days." At this point, she was all choked up and had to take a minute to get herself under control. I reached my hand out and she grabbed it so I could give it a squeeze, but then she didn't let go. The crowd cheered her on, which actually made her a little more emotional at first before she was able to continue.

"I promise you that I felt your good will and I believe your positivity helped me. I'd ask you to continue to send that positivity to the individuals who are still patients here and to those around you. As I've been told I have a great deal of mail, flowers, and such waiting for me at home, I'd like to thank you for that as well. I would like to suggest, however, that in lieu of flowers or gifts, anyone who was planning to send something instead make a gift to the Avengers Support Children of Violence Initiative. It is a worthy cause and I am saddened that Friday's fundraiser was cut short. Thank you again for your support and in advance for your kindness and respect for my privacy as I go about my recovery."

With that, I wheeled Stephanie away from the news cameras. She insisted on stopping many times as we moved toward the waiting SUVs, particularly for children in Avengers gear so that they could be greeted by the entire team, including whoever their favorite was. She accepted several bouquets of flowers, piling them in her lap, and several Rangeman collected larger gifts on her behalf, saying they would inspect them before giving them to her. It took longer than I would have liked, but eventually we made it to the waiting SUVs and I picked Stephanie up before crawling into our SUV with her in my arms. I settled her into the middle seat and reclined against me and buckled both of our seat belts as the door was shut unceremoniously, blocking out the cameramen vying for the perfect shot of us together. The primary medical staff was already in the back of the SUV, waiting for us. As we pulled away, her doctor leaned over and gave her a brief exam, hindered only slightly by having to lean over a seat to do so.

I was grateful when the doctor announced that despite how clearly worn out Stephanie was, she was still in fair condition and had not been made worse by our lengthy exit of the hospital. Despite this, Stephanie slept through the brief car ride, our transfer to helicopters at a nearby airfield, and her transfer to the newly furnished Avengers Tower medical floor. In fact, she slept for most of that day and the next couple. I had tried on multiple occasions to persuade her to let us move her upstairs to our floor, but she was insistent that as long as she was required to be hooked up to machines and in a hospital bed, she be on a medical floor. She didn't want us to have those memories in our bedroom.

About a week in, after she'd been off the truly heavy pain medication for a few days, she called a meeting. In this meeting she had Dr. Chastain, a psychologist, Ranger, a notary, a lawyer that it seemed Pepper had helped her find and myself. First she had the psychologist ask a bunch of questions and certify that she was of sound mind. Then she explained to Ranger and I that she was making a change to her medical power of attorney. She was giving that to me primarily. If I was unreachable or had yet to arrive wherever she was, Ranger was an alternate, but once I had been contacted and was able to do so, I would be responsible. She'd actually named Natasha as a second alternate just in case, and Natasha had already signed the paperwork with the appropriate notarization and witnesses. Ranger didn't even look surprise, just nodded his head in agreement. I told Stephanie that I was fine with that, but that it meant that we should have a rather serious conversation later that very day about her wishes in various situations. She agreed and we all signed the paperwork. That evening, Natasha, Ranger, Steph, and I all sat around and had that uncomfortable but necessary discussion.

Although, Stephanie protested that it was unnecessary, I stayed with her in her "hospital" room for the duration of her two week stay there. When she pushed, I just told her that, just as she didn't want memories of her convalescence in our bedroom, I wanted as few memories as possible of our bedroom without her in it. And I certainly wouldn't be creating any of those while she was in the building. She'd blushed, but accepted that with a kiss. Toward the end of her stay on the medical floor, Steph began to get cranky and antsy. It was then that she started insisting she was fine, and I had to remind her that her heart had stopped, TWICE. It seemed that my distress over that fact was enough to back her off of any jailbreaks, at least for a few hours.

Finally, 17 days after she was shot in the neck, Stephanie was able to "come home". To our apartment, that is. She did so walking under her own power, and it was as though a huge weight was lifted off my chest. Everyone had taken the time to decorate our apartment with banners and balloons, and they also supplied massive quantities of all of Stephanie's favorite food. She'd lost several pounds during her recovery that, although she joked to the contrary, she needed to put back on. Because her stamina was still lowered, the crowd didn't stay too long. Eventually it was just Natasha, Pepper, Bucky, and Sam there with us.

Natasha and Pepper showed Stephanie where they'd replaced many of her favorite items, clothes, and toiletries that she hadn't gotten around to getting after her apartment was destroyed. Some of them had been salvaged, but most had been completely replaced. Steph gave them big hugs of gratitude before they left. We settled onto the couch, watching some Sunday Night Football with Bucky and Sam, Steph dozing through most of it. I tried to convince her to let me help her into bed, but she just grumbled that she'd been in bed plenty lately and since we couldn't do anything fun yet, she was staying where she was. We all chuckled and just continued to watch TV while she slept. I was impressed by the way that Sam was able to control his usual yelling at the referees.

"So, what do you know about Dr. Chastain?" Bucky asked.

I looked over at Sam, and we exchanged raised eyebrows.

"Not much. In fact, I'm sure I know less about her than you since I have no doubt you ran a background check on her as soon as she announced that she was Steph's surgeon and gave us that first update on Steph's condition."

Bucky grunted noncommittally, and I stifled a laugh. I was surprised when Steph, who I'd thought was sleeping, got out, "she's single" around a yawn. "And she's asked about you, a lot. More than anyone else."

Bucky scoffed and had a look on his face that clearly showed that he assumed the doctor had asked because she was afraid of him, but before I could say anything, Steph just squeezed my hand and continued. "It's not what you think. She's interested in you. If you're interested, you should ask her out. She'll say yes."

Instead of a response, Bucky stood up and distracted Stephanie by showing her where all of the weapons were hidden in the common areas of this apartment. When he'd moved into the extra guest room, he'd insisted on arming the place to Natasha and Clint levels. Maybe more. It was clear, however, that Stephanie found the presence of these weapons reassuring, which I suppose wasn't all that big of a surprise given the events of the past 6 weeks or so that we'd known each other.

Another week later, Stephanie and I had a date night of sorts. She still wasn't really ready to be out and about in the city, so I'd worked with Natasha to set up a romantic evening in our apartment. Bucky and Sam had cleared out for the night- they were going to stay in a couple of the extra hotel-style rooms for the night to give us some space, even though we wouldn't be doing anything terribly exciting as Steph hadn't been cleared for that kind of activity.

After we'd eaten dinner, we settled onto the balcony, which we'd hardly ever used since Steph had been worried about a sniper until recently. It was chilly, but we both took that as an excuse to snuggle a little closer to each other under the blanket we'd brought out. Steph still couldn't drink too much, so after the one glass of wine we'd had with dinner, we'd switched over to hot chocolate which was also helping us stay warm. We sat in silence for several minutes, just enjoying each other's company when Steph shoved my feet with hers.

"Do you want to talk about it? We haven't really talked about it. Actually talked about it. You know, what we felt and the like. I checked out for most of it, so I imagine in some ways it was scarier for you than me."

"You were plenty scared, Steph. Don't even attempt to tell me otherwise. It was written all over your face; you thought you were going to die."

"I thought it was likely. But you were there, and I knew you and the others were going to do everything you could to save me."

I kissed her on her forehead and whispered out, "always, Steph. Always."

After a few more minutes of silence she said, "okay, so I'm guessing you don't really want to talk about it."

"If it's okay, Honey, I'd rather not. I promise though, I have talked to people about it- a therapist, Sam, and, believe it or not, Tony. I'm okay. I would just really like to not think about it right now."

"Okay. I do want to say one thing though, if that's okay."

"Of course, you talk about it as much as you want."

"I talked to a therapist as well, and Natasha, and Dr. Chastain. And Bucky, actually. And Sam of course. Really everyone at some point, including a little with you a few times. What I want to say though is that I don't really remember a whole lot about that jet ride, but there is one thing I remember. I remember holding your tags and thinking about how stupid time really was. None of us know how much of it we have."

Hearing her say that, I went absolutely still. Did she mean what I thought she meant? I looked in her eyes and saw them just absolutely filled with love and I knew she did.

"JARVIS, block all video, audio, and recording from here starting 5 minutes ago and for the next 30 minutes unless it is an absolute emergency. You are to tell no one anything you happen to hear for the rest of the night that is of a private nature, no matter what."

"Okay, Captain, Miss Plum, have a good night."

I stared at Steph for a couple more minutes before I stood up and tucked the blanket carefully around her in my absence, though I didn't plan to be away for long. Then I thought about it for a few seconds and realized that theoretically someone could somehow still see us out here, even though they'd have to know we were out here and have a telephoto lens or something, but still. So I reached down and picked Stephanie up gently and carried her back into the living room where I set her softly on a couch in front of the one-way windows. Then I took a step away from her and knelt down.

"Stephanie, I know we haven't known each other all that long…"

I was cut of as Stephanie just cut in, nodding her head and her smile growing saying, "time is stupid, it doesn't matter."

And that's when I knew we were absolutely on the same page. "I love you so much, will you marry me?"

Her blue eyes lit up as she laughed and clapped her hands before shouting, "yes!"

I pulled her into a giant hug and a passionate kiss. When I pulled back I said, "thank you" which only made her laugh again.

"I honestly don't know why you're thanking me. I'm the lucky one."

"Agree to disagree?"

"How about this- we're both lucky. We're lucky we found each other and that we can be together."

"You're absolutely right."

We sat on the couch, making out for several minutes, and I'd resisted several attempts on Steph's part to take it further, despite her loud protests. I pulled back and starting kissing up her neck to her ear as I said, "I'm sorry I don't have a ring for you. I figured I'd get one for you at Christmas."

"Mmmm, I don't need a ring. I have your tags and that's enough for me."

"Maybe you don't need one, but I'm getting you one anyway. Well, two. And one for myself. Anyway, seriously, we need to talk about this at some point in more detail, not right now, but soon. I have a lot of money, and I never spend it. Almost 70 years of back pay at combat pay rates with zero living expenses. Not to mention the SHIELD salary I was drawing for a couple years there with the very generous bonus for saving the world and the salary I've been drawing from Stark Industries lately... Oh! And I actually bought some of those war bonds I was selling way back when… Not many because I still didn't have much money back then, but I also didn't have anyone to send the money home to, so I figured might as well invest it. Natasha helped me claim those when I got my back pay. They had done quite well. At any rate, I want to spoil you some. And I've never had anyone I could spoil, so you're going to let me, okay? I promise, we can afford it and anything else we'll ever need. Neither of us even has to work if we don't want to."

"I don't want to be some useless trophy wife."

"No, you misunderstand, we don't have to work if we don't want to. I want to work still, and I know you do. I'm just saying, if that changes for either or both of us, that's okay too. Even with the spoiling I plan to do. Starting with the ring. Okay?"

"Yeah, okay." She cocked her head to the side then asked me, "do you want kids?"

"With you Steph, yes, I do. If you want them and are willing to have them. Or we could adopt if you wanted them and didn't want to have them. I'm also okay with it if we don't ever have any as long as I still get you. What do you want?"

"I used to think I didn't, just like I thought I'd never get married again. But over the last few weeks, and it started before the shooting, so don't even think that's what this is, I've started realizing that I do. Maybe not right now, but it'll be okay whenever. And given my age, we probably don't want to wait all that long. If we have one, we have at least two though, okay? As much as Saint Valerie and I gave each other hell from time to time, I liked having a sibling."

I cleared my throat and said, "yeah, siblings are good. Technically I didn't have any-"

"But you have Bucky."

I nodded my head, grateful that she understood.

"Now, about that ring. If you want me to have one, I'm not going to stop you, but I do have a bit of a proposition for you. I think it'll be fun. If you trust me."

"You know I do. What is it?"

"When do you want to get married?"

"I will get married whenever, wherever, and however you want. I don't care about it, as long as you're mine."

"Perfect. Then, I'm going to ask you to trust me when I say, no ring for now. And don't tell anyone we're engaged, okay. I've got an idea and it is going to be so much fun!"

The small part of me that might have thought about being concerned about the fact that she didn't want to wear a ring or tell anyone about our engagement was small in the first place. And as soon as I saw the mischief and joy in her eyes, it disappeared completely. Whatever she wanted, she would get.

_**Steph's POV**_

Steve and I were engaged! We'd been engaged for about a month and Steve had never questioned my request that he not buy my ring yet or tell anyone about the engagement. We never really discussed it, actually, but it was there and we both knew it. Every once in a while, I would manage to convince someone to let me out of the tower. On those trips, I was able to slip my guard long enough to get a couple things done. The first time, for example, i was able to pick up a prepaid cell phone.

I'd sworn JARVIS to secrecy about my burner phone and any conversations I had while on it- even from Steve, and I was pretty sure I'd managed to go 100% undetected on the issue. I'd gotten my clearance from the doctor a week into our engagement to begin cardio, but Steve and I had yet to be intimate again. I think it was a mix of things really, but mostly he was afraid of hurting me and wouldn't touch me until I'd been pronounced ready for fieldwork again. It seemed odd to me since most of what we did in the bedroom was nowhere near that physically demanding. I also knew there was no fighting it, so I just went with it.

I had hoped I'd get that clearance a week before I put my plan into action, and have a little bit of time at the Tower with Steve, but that hadn't worked out. Maybe the timing was better that way, who knows. And it didn't really matter because I was eventually cleared.

I dropped by Clint and Natasha's floor first and asked if they had anything that they thought might be coming down the road as far as missions were concerned for the next week- just a couple weeks before Christmas. When they told me that they didn't, I let them know that I had gotten that final all clear from my doctor but was going to try to get Steve to go out of town for at least a night, but would try to stretch it to a week if I could. I wanted some more time to train before I actually went in the field, and after talking to Ranger, I'd decided to wait until after the holidays to take up my in-office training again. Not to mention I was going to have to recertify as field ready as a precaution.

Then I went down to our apartment. I was actually surprised not to see Steve, but it made things a little easier, so I packed us an overnight bag and went to put it in my Porsche. When I got back up to the apartment, Steve was in the bathroom showering. I quickly made my way into the closet and put on a nice shirt and jeans before laying out jeans and a button down shirt for Steve. I could hardly contain my laughter at the puzzled look on his face when he walked out of the bathroom and clearly started trying to figure out whether he'd forgotten an occasion or not. I just patted him on the cheek and squeezed by him into the bathroom and told him to get dressed because we were going out. I spent a little more time on my makeup, even though it was just before noon, and when I was satisfied with the results, I walked back out.

In a flash I was grabbing my purse from the bed, showing Steve my stashed weapons, and leading him out of the apartment with a "you've got your driver's license, right?"

As we reached the apartment foyer, Bucky and Sam were walking in and both looked at us in surprise, questions clearly written all over their faces. I gave them both quick hugs hello and just said, "got my last clearances from the doctor today. I thought Steve and I might go away for a couple days before I go back to work."

Steve let out a surprised groan which sounded decidedly pleased, and Bucky and Sam gave us knowing looks before telling us to have fun and to watch our backs. We agreed, and Steve grabbed his shield on our way out. We got to the car and settled in for the drive, Steve never once asking where we were going. Two hours later, we pulled up to an inn. I cut off the engine and turned to look at Steve with a big smile on my face.

"Did you know that in the state of Connecticut, where we are now, you can get your marriage license and get married on the same day? And you have to do it in the town you get married in. There's no waiting period, you don't have to have any blood work done. You don't have to supply divorce decrees or birth certificates. You don't even need to have witnesses. All you need is your driver's license and a Justice of the Peace."

"Is that right?" Steve asked, rubbing a hand on his face with a very satisfied grin.

"Yep!' I replied, giving the word a little bit of an extra perky pop at the end. "And there are these inns all over the state that specialize in elopement packages- even on weekdays. So you call, reserve an elopement and they walk you down to get your marriage license. Really they do everything for you. They'll even take some clothes deliveries for you if you ask really nicely. And you know, they don't do anything and you don't pay until you get there, so you could use an assumed name when you book, and it wouldn't really matter."

Steve finally let out a full-blown laugh at that. Then he reached over and cupped my face in his hands and said, "do I really get to marry you today?"

"Yep! And, we don't have to if you don't want, but I thought we might be able to convince them not to say anything to the press, especially if we promise to promote them after the fact. I think it would be a lot of fun to see how long it takes for us to get found out. And to see who figures it out first. I mean, between the super spies, Tony having JARVIS, Rangeman being constantly nosey, and The Winter Soldier, you'd think one of them is bound to find out pretty quickly, right?"

"You're right, that will be fun. I'm guessing Tony figures it out first."

"Guess we'll see. Are you okay with holding off on the rings, public announcement, and me changing my name until whenever they figure it out?"

"Of course, like you said, it will be fun. And it's something we only get to do once, right? You're going to take my name? You don't have to, you kow."

I rolled my eyes, "I know I don't have to, but I have a feeling it means a lot to you, and I want to. Especially if we're going to have kids."

Steve's eyes turned almost pitch black with lust at that, and he pulled me into a kiss. I eased back and opened my door saying, "come on, let's go." We'd gotten about two steps toward the inn when I turned to him eyes wide, and said, "oh shit! Prenup. You probably want a prenup; Steve, I'm so sorry, we can't do this today."

This time Steve rolled his eyes at me, tapped me on the nose and said, "nope" before leading the way into the inn.

When we walked in, the place was completely silent. I felt a little guilty because I'd actually gotten a bunch of credit card gift cards, found a couple of days where there were no guests scheduled to be at the inn and once they'd scheduled our elopement, I'd booked the rest of the rooms in the place, with a late check-in time. Those guests would never show, but at least the inn was still getting paid!

I watched as the receptionist looked up and spotted us, her jaw dropping open completely. When she reached for her phone, I just said, "please, don't. We'll make it very worth your while!" She tentatively withdrew her hand from her phone and I asked if she could call in the manager. It turned out that her name was Lauren and she was the manager, so that made things a little bit easier.

We introduced ourselves, explained the situation to her, and I apologized for the subterfuge. She seemed to take it all in stride and accepted when we said that we'd like to keep this just between us for as long as possible. At the mention of allowing her to use a photo of us on her website and making sure she got favorable press, Lauren got fully on board with making sure this was all kept as completely quiet as possible.

She reassured us that we could trust the Justice of the Peace to be discreet, and she'd only take pictures of us with our own camera. She even had a friend in the Town Hall and was able to clear the place for us. Lauren asked if we'd be willing to forgo the five course dinner that came with our wedding package, and I told her that we actually weren't going to be staying the night despite the lovely accommodations. I wanted us to be seen and have a reservation in an entirely different town than we had gotten our marriage license. She understood- marriage licenses are public record, but you'd only really find someone's if you knew when and where to look.

Once we'd figured all the details out, we moved our car into a small garage and had hid in our room for a few minutes. We took the opportunity to change into the outfits I had sent for us, a simple suit for Steve and a knee-length cream dress for me. It was the type of dress that if you knew we were getting married, you would recognize as an informal wedding dress, but if you didn't know we were getting married, you'd just think it was a dress. While we were getting ready, Lauren gave the entire rest of the staff the rest of the day off, paid, and told them to come back in the morning. When the coast was clear, we walked down the road and got our marriage license, Lauren snapping pictures the whole way, and within an hour, we were married.

We sat in the garden with Lauren and the Justice of the Peace, just chatting and relaxing for a while after the ceremony. After thanking the Justice of the Peace thoroughly, he left, and we went around the grounds allowing Lauren to take many more photos of us throughout the property. We promised to send her digital copies and a couple prints, = and release several to the press once we publicly announced the wedding. Grabbing our things from our room, Steve and I were back in our car and on our way to Boston just a handful of hours after we'd arrived.

Despite Steve's protests, I insisted on stopping at a rest stop on the highway and changing from my cream dress into a teal one, just to make sure we didn't give ourselves away at the hotel. After all, I'd booked this reservation under Steve's real name. It was immediately clear that the hotel had made the connection, or at least hoped that the "Steve Rogers" who was checking in would be Captain America, and they were respectfully delighted. We offered token protests, but allowed them to upgrade us to a suite. With only one small overnight bag with us, however, we politely declined the offer of a bellman to take us to our room.

When we got to the door of our suite, Steve shifted the bag on his shoulder a little, unlocked the door, then swept me up into his arms, carrying me over the threshold with a big smile on his face. I had my arms around his neck, smiling up at him and not paying attention to anything but that smile of his. He'd barely stepped in the door when he immediately pulled up short and froze with me in his arms. He actually audibly gulped before setting me down on my feet right in front of him. I looked up and made a choked sound of my own when I saw who was standing there.

Standing in the foyer, tapping her foot was Natasha with Pepper right next to her. Both had their arms crossed on their chests, and behind them was the rest of our Avengers family, their arms crossed as well. None of them looked pleased. Steve started shuffling nervously behind, and I just gave him a little nudge and whispered, "be cool."

"What, exactly have you two been up to? It doesn't take 9 hours to drive from Manhattan to Boston. In fact, we all made it in three. There is always traffic, but not that much traffic."

"You did not make it in three hours!" I replied, then dropped it when Natasha raised her eyebrow.

"Even if you didn't speed Steph, you'd have been here in four and a half tops. And let's be honest, since this was actually your first real trip out in the Porsche, I doubt you were driving all that slowly."

I made a show of digging through my purse and pulling out my phone to check the screen. Then I reached into Steve's pocket, grabbed his, and checked his.

"Seriously, what is this about. We decided to take a mini-vacation. We haven't missed any calls, why are you here?"

Everyone else remained silent, allowing Natasha, the Queen of Interrogation, to handle this. "Steph, you've been so hard up for the past month and a half, complaining about how Steve wouldn't touch you until you got cleared," she hardly paused when Steve made a strangled noise behind me and I felt his hands tighten on my hips. "There's no way you so much as leave your apartment for at least a couple days after getting that go ahead unless something is up. We all knew that. Sam and Bucky had already decided to move back down to the other floor for a few days when they heard you had your appointment today and we were all sure you were going to get cleared. So, what is it? Why are we in Boston? And why did it take you so long to get here."

I rolled my eyes and said, "We just took the scenic route to get here."

"Okay, stop lying to me. Again, there's no way you take 9 hours to get into a bed after you're cleared for sex."

"We stopped and had sex on the way?" I tried.

Natasha let out a pained sigh and just looked pointedly over my shoulder. I twisted around so I could see Steve, and wailed, "oh come on, Steve! You're not even the one who is lying right now! How did you learn nothing from partnering with Natasha?!"

"Sorry Steph, I just prefer being honest. Lying makes me uncomfortable."

I narrowed my eyes at him and said playfully, "Yeah, I'm beginning to think that's just an excuse you use because you're so awful at it. Fine! Do you want to tell them, or do you want me to?"

"I don't think we're going to believe anything you say at this point tonight, Steph," Natasha deadpanned. Damnit, she was pissed.

I sighed, "please don't be angry. We didn't mean anything by it, we just wanted to see how long it would take you guys to figure out. We didn't think you'd figure it out this quickly, I mean, the paperwork hasn't even been filed yet!"

There was silence in the room and everyone just kept staring at us.

"Fine! It took us nine hours to get to Boston because we stopped in Connecticut to get married along the way! Are you happy now?!"

Steve spun me around and said, "shhh, it's okay Steph" before pulling me into a deep kiss. No one had said anything yet, so I admit I kind of forgot about them a little as our kiss kept going. Like Natasha had said, I'd been getting pretty desperate. A throat cleared behind me so loudly that it could have only been Thor, and we broke off our kiss, and I turned around, staying strategically in front of Steve.

When no one had yet to say anything, despite the fact that I was pretty sure they'd be excited, I realized that they still weren't sure they believed us. So I reached back and took the bag from Steve before digging out our framed marriage license.

"This one's just for show, the Justice of the Peace took the real one back to the Town Hall earlier. He said he'd file it first thing in the morning, and we should have our official copies in the mail next week, maybe the week after with the holiday and all. I'm sorry we didn't tell you, but we wanted this to be between us, at least for a while. I would think you'd understand that, Natasha! Plus, like I said, we wanted to see how long it would take you to figure it out! I mean come on, JARVIS vs. Rangeman vs. Super Spies? That would have been so fun!"

There were a few more beats of that pesky silence as Natasha and Pepper inspected the certificate I'd handed to them before passing it behind them. Then they both, that's right, Natasha too, let out squeals of delight and surrounded me in a bone-crushing hug and bouncing up and down. Then they each reached out and arm and pulled Steve in as well, who had started laughing at our antics.

When they finally let go, there were plenty more hugs and back slaps that went around. The women started clamoring for pictures before someone finally made the realization. Of course, it was Tony so he said, "wait a minute. So you two got married this afternoon. And you haven't… in two months. And this is your wedding night…" he barked out a laugh when Steve blushed and clapped us both on the shoulder, "sorry about that! We're in the suite one floor above you. Try to keep it down, yeah? And we'll see you for dinner up there the day after tomorrow."

"No promises, Tony!" I called out as the group hustled out the door, Natasha grabbing the Do Not Disturb sign and placing it over the handle with a wink as she pulled the door shut behind them. I followed and flipped the extra locks before turning around with my arms raised in anticipation of Steve being there. He did not disappoint as he grabbed me by my thighs and lifted me up and pressed my back against the wall before devouring me with kisses.

As great as the feel of Steve's tongue invading my mouth was, I had to pull away to whimper when he started pressing against me urgently. I was all for the contact and arched my back so that I could rub against him in a way that put the pressure directly on my clit. The contact felt so good that I used my heels to pull his erection even more firmly into me and Steve groaned before taking my mouth in another kiss.

Several more minutes passed and we were both riding the edge of ecstasy when Steve pulled back. "God, Steph, it's our wedding night. We should take it slow, go to the bedroom. You know, romance and all that."

While he was talking, I barely listened instead occupying my hands with unzipping his pants and pulling him out. I moaned in appreciation before reaching into my bra and grabbing the condom I'd stashed there when I changed on the second half of our drive. I ripped the packet open with my mouth and slid the condom onto Steve and gasped out, "orgasm now, romance later." When Steve didn't get with the program quick enough, I pulled his head down to mine and bit his bottom lip while using my legs to pull him closer again.

That did it, and I let out a shout that was a mix of triumph and pleasure as Steve pushed into me fully in one stroke. If I hadn't been absolutely drenched with need, it probably would have been uncomfortable. Since I was beyond horny though, the sudden fullness just pushed me immediately over the edge and into orgasm.

"Steph!" Steve gasped out, but managed to maintain his control, just barely, easing me through that orgasm gently before he started slamming into me. It didn't take long for the second orgasm to sweep through me, and this time I took him with me.

We slid to the ground in a tangle of limbs and took a minute to catch our breath. Then I looked around a little at the foyer we were still in and said, "do you think there's more to the suite than this entryway?"

Steve let out a chuckle and gave me a gentle pat on the ass as he stood up then pulled me to my feet. "I don't know, my gorgeous wife. What do you say we take a look?" He swept me up into his arms and said, "and maybe we can find a little of that romance while we're at it."

* * *

**A/N: **Whoops! I definitely had some timeline issues here which I have now corrected. Steph got shot about a week after her birthday (October 12), so if they got married about two months later, they got married about mid-December (no, I don't really feel like an exact date is necessary, but I can calculate it out and give you one if I need to). On the bright side, next chapter soon?


	18. Chapter 18

**Disclaimer: **The characters and things you recognize in this story don't belong to me. They belong to Marvel and Janet Evanovich. I'm pretty sure you'll recognize which is which. Mistakes belong to me.

* * *

Chapter 18

_**Steve's POV**_

It had been about 45 hours since Tony and the others walked out of our suite, and we hadn't left. When we needed food, we called for room service and that was it. It would make for one heck of a bill when we checked out, but this was our honeymoon and no doubt worth it.

I walked back over to the bed where Steph was tangled up in the covers. She was naked and mostly covered, but I could just barely see the swell of one breast peaking out from the covers and she had one leg thrown out that exposed her almost all the way to her waist. My fingers were itching to draw her, but I knew I'd have plenty of time for that in the future. Right now we needed to get upstairs.

Reaching my hand out, I tickled the bottom of her bared foot and laughed at her reactionary shriek and jump.

"What the hell, Steve?!"

"Honey, I've given you half an hours worth of warning and you haven't moved a muscle. We need to go upstairs."

"I don't see why we have to," she replied. From her tone, I could tell she was pouting without even having to see her face.

"We do have to leave this room eventually."

"But do we actually? Let's think about it. There's a big comfy bed with lots of room to have wild and crazy sex on, which we like. There are people who bring us food when we ask them too. No one has tried to kill us, and if we get bored with the sex, there's a TV! What more do we need?"

I crawled up the bed pulling the blanket away and trailing kisses up her body as I went. "You're getting bored with the sex already?" I whispered in her ear before nibbling along it and back down to her throat.

She let out a loud moan then said, "hell no, I just figured you know, after 40 or 50 years of being locked in this room together having sex, we might decide we wanted to do something else, and there would be a tv we could watch."

I laughed at her reasoning then sat back so that I had her lightly pinned down and started tickling her. She started squirming and thrashing around while shrieking and trying to escape my fingers.

"I give! I give!" she screamed, so I stopped and let her up, giving her a gentle push into the bathroom.

"Go on, get cleaned up so we can go upstairs. You know if we're too late, Tony will come down here and break into the room!"

From the entryway I heard a, "hey! I resemble that remark!"

And Steph let out a surprised squeak before dashing into the bathroom. I heard the shower start up, and let out a wistful sigh. My plan had been to join her in there, but it looked like I'd taken too long to get her up and moving. Reluctantly, I made my way out of the bedroom and was pleasantly surprised to find just Tony there rather than the entire herd. I was less pleasantly surprised, on the other hand, to see that he was dressed up. I looked down at my sweats and undershirt; I had planned to switch to jeans but still, "I thought we were just going to be eating in your suite?"

"And you were going to come dressed like that?!" Tony replied, shock in his voice.

"No, I was going to put on jeans after getting out of the shower with my wife, but it seems that plan was interrupted."

Tony just wiggled his brows, "haven't had enough of that, huh?"

"Never."

I think I'd managed to surprise Tony by giving him an honest answer without a hint of a blush because he laughed. Then he said, "well, we figured you might not have been out of your room yet, and Boston's a nice city so we're going to take you out. And I am sorry about barging in, but we have reservations, so I wanted to give you sufficient warning. The others will be down in about 5-10 minutes. We should try to leave in 20-30 tops. Do you have something you can wear?"

I let out a huff, "yes, Tony. We won't embarrass you."

Leaving Tony in the living room of the suite, I wandered back into the bedroom. I grabbed Stephanie's "wedding dress" and the blue-ish one she'd changed into after the wedding so she could decide between them. Tapping lightly on the door before opening it so as to not scare her, I hung both dresses up in the steamy bathroom. Stephanie peaked her head around the curtain with a smile and asked, "joining me?"

I walked over to give her a kiss, pulling back before it got too out of control. "I want to and that was my plan, but the others are on their way down and apparently we're heading out for dinner. I brought your dresses in for you. Think you can be ready in 15 minutes?"

"Sure, just don't expect miracles with the hair!"

"It doesn't require miracles."

"That right there, is one of the many reasons I love you. Now, stop distracting me!"

I went back into the bedroom and quickly changed into my suit before walking back into the living room. By then everyone else had arrived, and I was a little offended by the relieved look on Tony's face. I knew how to dress!

Around ten minutes had passed while I chatted with my friends. About five minutes ago, the hairdryer had stopped, and I figured Stephanie was close enough to being on schedule considering that we'd had dinner out dropped on us at the last minute. When I heard the sound of Stephanie crying in the bathroom, I jumped up, cursing under my breath, and ran into the bathroom. I was vaguely aware of the others following me, not even registering their presence when I took in the sight in front of me.

Stephanie had her head in her hands sitting at the vanity. Makeup was spread in front of her and I could tell she'd been trying to cover up the scar on her neck. I was poleaxed because of course, I should have realized, this was our first time actually going out after the shooting. Steph had managed to keep our wedding so private that we'd only interacted with less than a handful of people, but going out tonight, we were almost guaranteed to be recognized.

Everyone but Natasha filtered out of the room, giving us some privacy, and I briefly flashed back to Natasha telling me that she wouldn't let me screw up with Steph. I was grateful that she was here; even if it was more for Steph than for me, I knew she wouldn't let me mess this conversation up too badly.

"Sweetheart, what's wrong?"

"I can't make it go away!"

"Steph, you don't need to; you're gorgeous with or without that scar, inside and out." I pulled her into me and dropped my voice to a low, throaty whisper, "have the last two days not proven to you how unbelievably sexy I think you are in your own skin- scars and all?"

"I know you feel that way, but the rest of the world won't. And you know there's going to be photographers and it is going to be turned into a HUGE deal when they realize who we are."

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Pepper reappear in the doorway and pass something off to Natasha before leaving again. Natasha held up a bottle of some sort of makeup and gestured to herself then Stephanie.

"I know you're right, but I'm going to be right here with you. No matter what anyone says, about your scars or anything else, okay? Forever. And just remember, that scar just proves how amazing and strong you are. You survived. I love that scar because it shows me that you _healed_ and came back to me."

Stephanie took a deep breath and slowly let it out. "okay. I love you, you know."

"I love you too," I replied with a kiss. "Now, as much as I don't think you need to cover it up, I think Natasha has something that she's going to use to help you out."

So saying I gave Steph one more quick kiss to the top of her head before nodding my thanks to Natasha. On my way out, I paused at the door and looked back to see that Natasha had pulled Steph into a sisterly hug and was whispering something to her that I chose not to try to listen in on. I continued out into the living room and sat down heavily in a chair, scrubbing my hands over my face.

"I know it doesn't do much for you, but still, here," said Tony sliding a tumbler of brandy my way. I picked it up and drained it in one big gulp.

"I should have realized," I said, "this is our first time actually out in public since the ball."

"It's okay," replied Pepper, "you've had other, happier things on your mind. You're both allowed to forget and move on. Plus, we're all here, so she'll feel safer this way."

"Does the press know we're here?"

"I think they suspect. They definitely know we're here, we've made a point of drawing some attention so that no one would question your whereabouts too much. You're going to try to keep the marriage a secret a while longer?"

I grinned and said, "I think so," and Steph joined in completely in unison with me to say, "it'll be fun!"

I laughed with her and let her pull me up from the couch.

"Alright," Stephanie said with what seemed to be only very slightly forced cheer, "let's do this! Don't forget not to say anything about marriage or wedding in public! You've all been involved with an espionage organization in one way or another, so I expect you can handle this."

"You know," I added thoughtfully, "Sam really was only involved in SHIELD long enough to help execute one of the biggest classified information leaks in history. Maybe we shouldn't bring him- he might not be able to keep a secret!"

Sam shoved at my shoulder, "fuck you, Rogers, that was all Natasha!" Then he shrunk back when he caught the dark glare on Natasha's face, and the rest of us, especially Clint, laughed at him.

Before we got to the door, Pepper yelled, "wait!"

We all froze and turned back to her. "Well, I'm not allowed to ask once we get outside, but I have to know, Steph, is that your wedding dress?!"

Stephanie looked down and smiled gently, "yes, yes it is. That's his suit as well."

Of course, Pepper then made us stop and pose for a couple pictures, dragging us out onto the balcony for some of them. We only got her to stop when Tony started complaining loudly and we promised that they could all come back to the suite and look at the pictures we had- if one of them had a computer with a card reader.

"A card reader, really Steph?" asked Clint.

She shrugged, "what, I picked out a really good camera because I knew the inn would be taking pictures with whatever we brought."

"Your Starkphone has an amazing camera," Tony wailed indignantly.

"Yes, but it is hackable if you all had gotten suspicious. Plus, if none of you knew about the camera, you wouldn't go looking for the photos or the card!"

"That's actually pretty smart," said Bucky.

Steph rolled her eyes before tapping her head and saying, "not just a hat rack my friend."

Sam gave her a fistbump and at my puzzled look, Steph just said, "Friends" which didn't really clarify anything for me because I already knew they were friends, but I just let it go.

We walked out the front door and into the extra long limo that Happy had waiting, Steph stopping to give Happy a big hug before climbing in.

"I had the front desk make our dinner reservations, and told them that they could use put it under 'The Avengers', which is pretty much code for 'there's no need to keep this quiet', so you should expect a crowd when we get there," warned Tony. "I figured it would be better to get this out of the way and not have to worry about when the paparazzi were going to catch on and the cameras would suddenly pop up."

"You're right about that, Tony, thanks," said Stephanie. Her calm tone betrayed only by the death grip she had on my hand. I tried to sooth her by running my thumb across the back, but I don't think it worked all that well because I was equally tense.

"It's probably just going to be paps, Steph. Not actual reporters; at least on the way in. I wouldn't recommend that you guys stop and chat. Just walk from the car to the restaurant. They'll probably just be screaming at you to ask you how you're feeling, and that'll be evident without you responding. But, they might try to goad you about Joyce because the media has picked up on the fact that you knew her for a long time. Don't let them goad you; don't mention her."

Stephanie flinched at the mention of Joyce's name, and I knew the possibility hadn't even crossed her mind, so I was glad that Tony had prepared her for it and we'd gotten that initial reaction out of the way. As Boston was such a small city, we were shortly pulling up outside the restaurant, and, while there were cameras waiting for us, it wasn't as many as I was worried there would be. We let Tony and Pepper get out first, followed by Bruce and Thor. Thor paused just a couple steps outside the limo, providing cover for Stephanie. I climbed out and quickly helped her out, pulling her into my left side as the flashes and yells immediately picked up. Bucky quickly followed and took up a position close to her left and Sam followed providing cover at her back. Natasha and Clint were last out, clearly on high alert, but portraying casual nonchalance to those who didn't know them.

The restaurant had actually placed us in a chef's room off to the side, so we were able to relax fully out of the public eye and enjoy ourselves despite the fact that it was a Friday and crowded in the main restaurant.

After we finished our very enjoyable dinner, we got back in the limo and found ourselves outside of a bar called Drink where, despite the crowd, Tony had managed to have seats set aside for us all in the back corner. It seemed to largely be focused on cocktails, but they didn't object when I ordered a beer. The mixologist, as I was informed they wre called, laughed when, after going through Steph's likes and dislikes which were scattered and seemingly without recognizable pattern, Steph threw her hands up and yelled, "Make me a drink that tastes like America!"

Unfortunately she was loud enough that it drew attention our way and we were quickly recognized. People were generally fairly respectful, however, leaving us to our own devices and only stopping by briefly to exchange a few words or get an autograph. Much to her delight, however, Stephanie's statement had sparked a bit of a competition among the mixologists over who could make the best America themed drink for her, calling her Miss America. There was a bit of a twinkle in my eye as I winked at her, watching as she caught herself about to correct them that it should be Mrs. America.

Once Stephanie declared a winner, which seemed to somehow be red white and blue colored while tasting like cherry pie, the competition continued until they'd created, and Steph had judged, a winning cocktail for each Avenger. Thankfully each drink was being split into little tasting cups so it wasn't too much, and I could tell by the last round that they'd honed in on Stephanie's tastes quite effectively making it a difficult decision for her. Tony, of course, set the bar off in cheers when he bought everyone in the place a round of Iron Man drinks and we all just shook our heads.

When Stephanie, who had settled on my lap as she slowly sipped her second winning Captain America drink drifted to sleep against my chest, I looked around and just said, "thanks for making this fun for her. She needed it to be fun and take her mind off of the stressful side of going out again." They all nodded in their agreement and offered to leave, but I just held on and said we were fine until they were ready to leave.

It wasn't too much longer before we decided to head out, and I gently shook Steph awake to get her into the limo and back to our hotel room. The next morning, I slid out of bed and threw on my running clothes with a thought of gratitude to Steph for packing them. Before long it felt like I'd run through all of Boston, and seeing a pharmacy, I stopped in to pick up some supplies of which we had just about depleted our reserve. Noticing a McDonalds off to the side, I stopped and made a quick purchase for Steph.

Letting myself in to the suite, I heard a low moan come from the bedroom, so I walked in and found Steph burrowing into the blanket, trying to hide her face from the sun. Then she peaked her nose out and sniffed the air before saying, "you are seriously the best, and sticking her hand out, snatching a couple of fries when I held them out to her and pulling them under the covers to eat. I laughed, gave her a few more when her hand popped out again, and when she finally pulled the blanket off and sat up, I pressed a kiss to her lips, dropped the bag and the coke off on the bedside table, then went into the bathroom to take a shower.

Much to my surprise, a few minutes later, the bathroom door opened then the shower curtain and Steph stepped into the shower with me. It didn't take very long for me to have her pressed up against the shower wall and have both of our mornings taking a very pleasurable turn. Once our heartbeats had returned to normal, we took turns cleaning each other up before going back into the bedroom. We decided that we would see if anyone wanted to grab lunch and then we'd go explore the city a little more. At Stephanie's insistence that it was too perfect of an opportunity to pass up, the exploring was going to be on the Freedom Trail.

I'd finished dressing, and Steph had made it into jeans, a pretty bra, and boots, but was currently shirtless, nibbling on her bottom lip.

"Not that I mind, because you look fantastic, but I'm thinking we will definitely draw some attention if you go out like that."

She shoved at me playfully then said, "well, that's kinda the problem. We have this suite for a week, but I honestly wasn't sure how long you'd want to stay. I figured you weren't going to be comfortable with having me here without backup so we'd be here a couple days tops and not really leave. So I didn't quite pack appropriately. I'm so happy we're still here and that the others are joining us, but this is the only shirt I have to wear today…"

She trailed off holding up her "I only kiss my superhero" shirt that I made her.

"Alright, well, we were planning to go out somewhere crowded with lots of tourists and cameras anyway, so our chances of not being seen were pretty much non-existent anyway. And I love it when you wear that shirt, so I say wear it, I won't bother with the hat, and we can stop at some stores and buy a couple changes of clothes for ourselves at some point today, okay?"

A smile broke out on her face and Steph just stood up on tip-toe to give me a kiss and say, "okay. I like wearing it too. And I also like shopping!"

We knocked on the others' suite door and breezed in when Bucky opened it. Steph clearly had a bounce to her step and Sam just eyed her in disgust, "I expected this of the supers but not you, Steph. How do you not feel awful right now?"

"Steve got me The Cure."

At Sam's strangled laugh, Steph said, "no, not that! Well, okay, I mean there was a little of that, but anyway, McDonalds. Large coke and large fries. Perfect hangover cure, so I call it The Cure."

"And you didn't bring me any, Steve? I'm beginning to think you like Steph more than me."

"Oh, I definitely do," I shot back with a laugh. We explained our plan for the day, and invited the others along, agreeing when Natasha insisted on arranging lunch. Since we were planning to spend most of the day walking anyway, we walked to lunch at a place called Café Fleuri inside The Langham hotel. Apparently they were known for their chocolate bar buffet, and Steph let out a groan as soon as she stepped in and smelled the chocolate.

"Thank goodness we don't live in Boston," Steph said on her second serving, with each item covered in as much chocolate as she could possibly get on it. "I would have to run like 30 miles a day to keep from getting fat because I would be here all the time."

Natasha's lips twitched and she said, "yes, I thought you might enjoy this."

As predicted, Stephanie's shirt had us getting spotted much more rapidly as we were out and about, but people were generally respectful. I always thought it helped that no one really seemed willing to anger myself or really any of the other Avengers. There were a few moments though that brought to the forefront of my mind fears for Stephanie going out alone in the future now that she was becoming so well known on her own.

Natasha clearly was thinking along similar lines and murmured to me, "we'll cross each bridge as we come to it. No use getting worked up over it now. She usually takes someone with her anyway, and these days it is usually an Avenger or a Rangeman. That's going to be good enough in most situations. And she's smart, when it becomes a problem and we have to have the conversation, she'll be reasonable about it."

"I know, I just need her to be safe," I murmured back. Steph's squeeze of my hand indicated that we hadn't been as quiet as we might have thought, so I returned the squeeze and gave her a reassuring smile. I knew that she wouldn't want to feel like her freedom was being infringed upon ever, but like Natasha said, she was smart. We'd figure it out on the fly as needed.

Between my insistence at reading most of the historical information at each stop (which the others teased me mercilessly for) and stopping to play nice with the fans frequently, the walk was slow going, but a lot of fun. It hadn't been all that long since breakfast though when we were standing outside the Paul Revere House. Stephanie paused and, you really couldn't call it anything else, scented the air. Everyone just looked at her a little bemused and puzzled except for Bucky who let out a laugh, shoved us into the house, and then strode off down the street.

When we walked back outside, Bucky was standing there waiting for us, bakery box in his hands. Stephanie read the label on the top of the box and her eyes went wide, "that's right. It's just a block or so away!" Bucky held the box out and told us that he figured the rest of us weren't hungry yet, so he'd arranged for a box to be sent back to the hotel for us to enjoy later tonight. Stephanie quickly ripped open the box and dug in, "Cannoli from Mike's Pastry! Bucky Barnes, if I didn't love Steve so much and think of you as a brother, you would be trouble, that's for sure."

Bucky looked pleased and stood a little straighter, and I just rolled my eyes at him.

"Steph, how can you even eat that right now?"

"Want to try it?"

"Thanks, but no. I couldn't eat anything right now, and that's with my fast metabolism!"

"What can I say, I have an extra dessert stomach or something. And these are so good that I doubt there's any level of 'full' that would keep me from eating one." She looked back in the box smiling and said, "or two!" then dug into the second one.

The rest of us were all looking green in the gills and Steph just laughed before throwing away the box and giving Bucky a big hug. We'd walked maybe half a block away when Steph stopped and rubbed her stomach. We looked at her and she grinned sheepishly saying, "sweet, sweet regret."

Natasha scoffed and said, "good thing we're walking then, but seriously, special vacation or not, you and I are going for a run in the morning."

Steph groaned then paused in thought, "totally worth it."

We finished the short walk and then it was time for Stephanie and I to do a little shopping. If there's one thing I'll say about family, it's how great it is to have people who know you and will do anything to make you happy and more comfortable. That's the only explanation I can think of for the fact that every one of the men stayed with me, never offering a single complaint, as the three ladies led us over to Newbury St and shopped their hearts out.

"Steph, how long are we staying again?"

"I don't know, I thought we'd leave tomorrow night late? That way we skip any work week traffic which we'd surely hit if we stayed until the end of our reservation"

I nodded, then looked at all the bags I was carrying, as well as those she had Sam and Bucky weighed down with and I cocked my head to the side and raised an eyebrow at her. Her only response was to give me a big eyed smile, and I quickly lost my resolve. Sam let out a cough that sounded suspiciously like "whipped" and he and Bucky snickered when I looked over at him.

Thor just slapped my shoulder and said, "it is good that you've found yourself a partner who makes you so happy. And it is right that you do everything you're able to make her happy. These things are nothing compared to her joy, yes?"

"Of course," I said.

Steph slipped her arm through Thor's and started saying, "remind me to make sure he hangs out with you more" as she led him off to get his opinion on something.

Bruce just muttered, "I get that her apartment and most of her things were destroyed, but what I don't understand is how she's buying more shoes right now. Those were fine, right? Did we not get her enough?"

Tony laughed and said, "if she's anything like Pepper, then I'd guess there's no such thing as enough shoes."

We'd slowly shopped all the way down on one side of the street and were most of the way up the other side when Steph suddenly lead the way into Victoria's Secret. Thor, Tony, and Bucky were hot on the womens' heels and Bruce, Clint, Sam and I just stood outside the door for a couple minutes. I could see Steph wandering around the store, not really paying attention, studying my reaction instead.

I blew out a breath, "this is some kind of test isn't it?"

Clint and Sam both laughed and Sam said, "yep!"

"Shouldn't Captain America not be spotted inside lingerie stores though?" I'm not ashamed to admit it, there was a little bit of a whine to my voice at that.

"Probably no worse than him standing outside looking lost or creepy," laughed Bruce.

I eyed him pointedly before I said, "fine."

Clint clapped me on the shoulder when we walked in and just steered me toward the perfume section. "Start here, find her a present," he said, then he walked over to Natasha and stood an inconspicuous distance from her while making whispered comments from time to time. I perused the perfumes for a while, trying to decide what Stephanie might like before I realized that I could probably pick something out that I liked and that would be the point anyway. So that's what I did.

While I was looking around trying to decide where I could go next that would be comfortable, a lingerie set that made me distinctly uncomfortable caught my eye. Now that I'd seen it though, I had to see Steph in it, so I took a deep breath and wandered over.

"Nice choice," Natasha said from behind me, making me jump. She laughed, "nothing wrong with buying your… _girlfriend_… lingerie. While this is nice though, I'm going to have to introduce you to my place back in Manhattan. I hear you've enjoyed their custom set."

I looked around to make sure no one heard the sarcastic emphasis she put on the word girlfriend, satisfied I turned to her and just said, "can you please just tell me what size so that I can go pay for it and be done with this?"

Natasha clicked her tongue at me, but finally took pity on me and handed me the correct sizes. "You know, you share a dresser, you could check anytime."

"Well, I wasn't planning to buy anything."

"Hmmm. Which just makes it better that you're doing so. Why are you so embarrased? It's just like buying condoms which I assume you've done especially given how long you two were locked in that hotel room."

"This is so not a conversation we're having, especially in public," I told her before turning my back and walking toward the register. Something else caught my eye on the way and I snagged the correct size, catching Natasha's nod of approval, before going up to the register. I managed to not flush too bad, especially when the cashier definitely recognized me. Stephanie popping up and trying to peek in the bag didn't help either.

As we walked back toward the hotel, Steph just said to me, "made it inside, and made a purchase on your first trip. I guess I can keep you," ending it with a wink.

When we were on the elevator at the hotel, I tried to take all the bags from the other guys and push the button for their floor in addition to ours, but Pepper just stepped in front of the buttons and commanded, "don't give him those. They owe us pictures! We've been patient for so long, and I'm done!"

I groaned goodnaturedly before agreeing when Pepper was having none of my, "you can wait two more days until we get back, right?"

_**Steph's POV**_

Monday morning's alarm went off much too soon for my liking, especially given how late we'd gotten in the night before. Even with the morning orgasm and the coffee and food Steve had fed me before letting me go down to the gym, I was seriously dragging. I was on the treadmill, trying to run, and not at all pleased with the pace that I was just barely managing. Finally Clint hopped off the treadmill next to me and turned my speed down even slower to barely a jog. It was almost a fast walk, but not quite. More of a shuffle really.

I pouted at him and said, "but I'm so out of shape!"

"Steph, you were shot in the neck like 8 weeks ago. You need to get back into the swing of things slowly, and pushing yourself that hard isn't going to make it better."

Easy for him to say, he, along with everyone else, was sickeningly fit. It was difficult not to feel inadequate in a gym filled with them.

Pure anger flashed across Clint's face, which was my first clue that I'd said that outloud. The second clue was when he powered my treadmill off at the same time that Bucky did his on the other side of me. They dragged me off my treadmill by the arm and both stood in front of me with their arms crossed.

"Stephanie Plum!"

"Rogers!" Steve yelled from across the gym trying to add some levity to the situation and, laughing and walking over when in a fit of crankiness Clint just gave him the finger, "from what I hear she hasn't changed it yet! And stop distracting me, this is important!"

"Stephanie, look at me!" He grabbed my chin from where I was looking at the ground and forced my eyes up to his "you almost died!"

"Technically she did die. Twice." Added Bucky.

Steve and Clint both growled at that. "I know how hard you worked to get in shape before the shooting, and that is going to make your recovery easier. But you need to listen to your body and to the rest of us. We have more experience with this kind of thing. If you push yourself that hard," he said gesturing to the treadmill, "before you're ready, you are going to set your recovery back. Could be way back. Do you understand?"

I mumbled something that sounded vaguely like agreement, and Clint yelled, "Hey! Do you understand?!"

"Jeeze, yes!" I said, looking around and noticing that everyone was gathered at this point, all with various amounts of earnestness and concern on their faces.

"And you have nothing to be ashamed or feel inadequate about, hear me?"

I blew out a breath, "fine."

"Alright, guess we're going to have to work on that last bit," he said. Then he put me back on the treadmill, eased my pace slowly up and set a 15 minute timer. "Touch the speed up button or try to add more time and you'll be sorry!"

When I climbed off the treadmill 15 minutes later, I begrudgingly admitted that I didn't feel as awful as I would have if I'd kept up my initial pace, and Clint just smirked. There was a bit of an edge to his gaze though, and I knew he was still a little grumpy at me. Well, I was grumpy at him for yelling at me in front of everyone, so that would just have to be how it was until we both cooled off. I was sure we'd be fine by dinner at the latest.

I walked over to Natasha and said, "look. I'm cleared for active duty. I know my stamina isn't there yet, so I'm taking a couple extra days to make sure I feel okay before I put myself into the field yet. Obviously we can't do as much as we were doing before, but there's got to be something, right?"

She cocked her eyebrow at me, and I caught Clint's smile in the mirror. I was relieved when she nodded in agreement and moved into the ring. Clint sidled up, and I could tell what I'd said to Natasha had made it clear that I was listening to him and his grumpiness was gone. Mine was not, however, so he'd be sorry if Natasha used him as a dummy today. Steve came over too, whispering a little with Clint and I felt my negativity growing.

"Wow, you're in a mood this morning aren't you?" asked Natasha.

I glowered at her in a way that I'm sure most sane people would be afraid to do, put off even more when she laughed in my face in response. Through gritted teeth I said, "I'm tired of being treated with kid gloves and like I'm going to keel over at any second."

"You looked like you were going to keel over earlier," she said.

"Because I was running too fast. I can still run, and if Iook so bad, then help me fix it," I said with plenty of unwarranted hostility in my voice.

"Alllll righty then," she said. "Bucky, come here, Steph needs something to hit and I don't think it should be Clint or Steve right now."

"What did I do?!" Steve asked, sounding bewildered.

I spun around and glared at him, darting my gaze between him and Clint to make it clear that I knew that 1) they'd been talking about me and 2) he was on on Clint's side. He held his hands up, palms out toward me and took a couple of steps back.

"I warned you months ago that we'd be tough on you where your training is concerned if we thought you needed it," he said.

My lip curled and I growled at him and he took another step back.

Behind me I heard Bucky, very close, say "Jesus Christ, doll, you on the rag or something?" and I lost it. I just spun around and decked him square in the jaw.

I heard Steve curse and jump toward the ring behind me, the others rushing forward as well.

"Oh please," I said, "he can take it. He's not going to go all Winter Soldier on me." Then I turned back to Bucky who was rubbing his jaw and pointed at him, "you. Never say that to me again."

"Really just never say it to any woman, Barnes, even if you somehow know it is true. I'm with Steph on that one." Natasha said. She then gestured for him to leave the ring. She looked around the gym before pointing at Thor, "all right, Big Guy, you're up."

Thor climbed into the ring with no hesitation and without making any comments, which was definitely in his best interest. He and Natasha worked with me for two hours, interspersing regular breaks and periods of watching for me so as to not let me wear myself down too far. Given my performance on the treadmill, however, we were all pleasantly surprised by how well I held up. We decided that part of the treadmill issue was mental, and that I was doing better than previously thought. Thor definitely didn't baby me, but he still let me get enough licks in to feel satisfied with my progress at the end of the session.

When we finished, I knew I didn't have enough energy left in me for any other workouts or the like that day, so I just crawled out of the ring with Steve's assistance and headed for the elevator. Steve hung back a few minutes, and as I was alone on the elevator, I cursed to myself when I felt my period start. Fucking Barnes. I'd known I was being bitchy all morning but hadn't really been able to control it. And then my body had to go and prove him right. I hated when I fell victim to the stereotype! I didn't mean to!

I took care of the issue then climbed into the shower. A couple minutes later, I heard the bathroom door open followed by what I thought might have been a quiet snicker. When I heard the cell phone camera click, however, I whipped my head out of the shower curtain and glared at Steve when I saw him, standing in front of the box of tampons I'd left on the counter, hitting send on a text message. I gave him my death glare and said, "say it, and die."

Steve just pulled off his shirt and pants and joined me in the shower. "A little cranky today, Sweetheart? Not feeling your best?"

I harumphed and turned my back to him, going back to my shower, glad that we had multiple shower heads, so I didn't have to give up my warm water to share with him. I moaned in delight though when his big hands slid over my back and started massaging out the soreness already popping up in my muscles. When his hands slid onto my breasts, I just said, "awfully friendly for a guy who isn't getting any for a few days."

Steve nibbled up and down my neck, making sure to hit all the spots that made me really squirm and said, "Hey, I'm okay with it if you want it, but I understand if you don't. Though even if you don't, there are other ways to try to make you feel better." So saying, his hand slid down to my clit and I have to admit, orgasm number two for the day made me much happier. Enough so that I was talked into more, and that was a first given the situation. At least we were in the shower already, so cleanup after was easy!

An hour later, I was dressed for the day in jeans and a shirt because I wasn't working yet. I grumbled out an, "I'm sorry for hitting you," to Bucky when I saw him in the kitchen.

He raised an eyebrow but said, "that's okay. I'm sorry for being an inappropriate jerk."

Then in a move that would endear him even more to me forever, he slid a stack of chocolate chip pancakes onto the breakfast bar in front of where I was standing and handed me a fork. I dumped generous portions of the syrup and whipped cream he handed me on them then groaned when I took a bite. "Oh man, these are great, now I feel even worse."

"Steph, I heal just about as fast as Steve. It's fine. It hardly bruised and it is just about all gone by now."

"Doesn't mean it's alright to hit. That wasn't okay." I said around a mouthful of pancake.

His lips twitched and then, as though he couldn't hold it back, he broke out into an actual smile and said, "tell you what, you can make it up to me by letting me ride in that pretty car of yours when you go to Rangeman today, okay?"

"I'm not working today," I said, surprised that he would think I was going in without me saying anything.

The look Bucky gave me clearly said, "hello, I'm a world class spy and I know you better than you know yourself. Period-predicting included." There was something else in his eyes, but I couldn't quite figure it out.

Steve, who had been standing off to the side with Sam watching our exchange, came up behind me now. He rubbed my shoulders some in between drinking one of his nasty protein shakes. He did, however, accept the bite of pancake that I offered him, so I liked to think that I was improving his taste in food at least a little. I could feel his chest rumble against my back as he said, "you haven't seen any of the guys in almost a week, and longer for some of them. And you haven't been into the office in two months. I think it is safe to say that even if you aren't technically working again yet, you're going to head into the office today. Just like I know you know that you're going to be taking most of us in with you. Because we worry about you, and you like to make us feel better. And we also know and understand that as reasonable as you seem about not pushing yourself, as soon as you see that office, you're going to be begging to go back to work soon."

I nodded my head in agreement as I cleaned up the breakfast dishes then said, "okay, what's the plan. We meeting upstairs?"

At their confirmation, I went back to the bedroom and got my weapons before we all headed upstairs.

When we pulled into Rangeman, convoy style again, I couldn't help but look forward to the day that they all felt comfortable with me going in to work without a full guard. For the time being, however, I was willing to humor them. We made it up to the fifth floor, and my first stop after being passed around enthusiastically by those who were on the floor, and saying hi to Rex, was to my own office. The guys had insisted on giving me one that was MUCH too big when we moved in, saying that there was more than enough space and as the only female other than Ella, they figured it'd be nice for me to have a reduced testosterone zone from time to time if I needed it. It was seriously huge though.

I noticed some new furniture had been added in my absence. A couple of couches and, as I walked over to my desk, I was surprised both to see that there was now a second desk and that Bucky just walked over and put his feet up on it casually. The others had followed me in and watched in amusement as I shoved Bucky's feet off the desk and said, "look, they must have picked out a partner for me and that's his desk. I don't even know who it is, but I doubt he'll be happy about having your feet on his stuff. Show a little respect!"

Bucky had a cocky grin on his face when he said, "uh, Doll?" and gestured with his thumb to the name tag on the desk. It read:

James "Bucky" Barnes

The Winter Soldier

Security Consultant, Rangeman LLC

Permanent Bombshell Duty

I gaped at it for a few minutes then let out a cheer of delight! "I hardly mentioned it to Ranger in passing before the shooting, but you took the job?!"

"They offered it to me after I took out Bernhardt. We worked out terms while you were recovering, and I even passed the field test about a month ago. Been learning the ropes while waiting for my partner to get field ready again. Though, I have to say, if her right hook is any indication, I think we'll be back in the field soon."

I laughed at that, "You set the record in every category of that field test didn't you."

"You know it!"

I rolled my eyes. "Well, welcome. As you can clearly tell, mi casa es su casa and all that jazz. I need to go talk to Hector for a minute, on personal business. Join or don't, it's your call. Everyone else, well, you know, do whatever."

Clint raised his hand, "when you're done with Hector, you and I still need to put in some range time."

I nodded my head, grabbed a flash drive out of my purse, and strode out of the room. Steve and Bucky followed me, not surprising me in the least.

I walked into Hector's offic. As he got up and started to come over to greet me, he stopped dead when I said. "Necesito tu ayudo."

That's right, I'd taken the time to learn Spanish given that Hector spoke it pretty much exclusively and most of the Merry Men were fluent in it. When I'd actually put in the effort, I'd pleasantly surprised myself and the others when I'd picked it up quite quickly. And I'd been practicing and perfecting while laid up over the past couple months. I realized that I had no idea if Steve or Bucky spoke it though.

"Sí, te ayudaré."

"Es un secreto."

He studied me closely before saying, "Lo entiendo."

I walked over to his computer, put my thumbdrive in his computer, and opened the first picture. As soon as he saw the first wedding photo pop up on the screen, Hector let out a relieved sigh and hugged me, "Felicidades, Angelita. Y usted también, Captain Rogers."

"Gracias, Hector" came Steve's smooth reply, so I guessed that answered half of that question.

I returned Hector's hug then reiterated, "Es un secreto para ahora."

"Sí, Angelita. Un secreto. Qué necesitas?"

"Puedes perfeccionar estos?"

"Por supuesto."

"Gracias, Hector"

I gave him another hug and then hurried back to my office. I indicated to Clint that I was ready and we walked down to the shooting range, trailing . I stubbornly insisted on taking the stairs and, when Clint rolled his eyes, I said, "I'm still not happy with you."

"I was right and you know it!"

"Sure, but there were other ways you could have made your point. You didn't have to yell at me in front of everyone!"

Clint stopped short, causing Steve to run into him, but somehow they managed to not go toppling down the stairs. If It had been me, we would have fallen down the stairs. The look of surprise and then careful contemplation on Clint's face was enough for me to know that I was about to forgive him.

"You're right," he said softly. "That's how we used to train S.H.I.E.L.D. recruits, but you're not a recruit and I'm not your superior. You're my friend, so I'm sorry I yelled at you."

I could see the sincerity when I met his gaze, so I nodded and said just as genuinely, "okay, then we're okay." I offered him a friendly smile then walked the rest of the way down to the shooting range.

One hour of range time and thirty, ridiculously pointless because I stood no chance whatsoever, minutes of paintball duels with Clint in the multipurpose room later, I was multicolored and in a much better mood than I had been in the morning. I'd managed to get the others in on the game too, and was pleased when Natasha and Bucky both managed to split their rounds with each other and Clint. No one made it out of the room without paint on them. As we stumbled toward the garage elevators, Ranger's Porsche pulled in. I told the others they could go shower if they wanted, but they waited to greet Ranger as well first.

As he walked toward us, Ranger's lips were twitching, "Babe, Soldier, I know you're not on the clock yet, but did you come in just to play? I'm sure there are rooms at the Tower that you can play in."

"We wanted to say hi to everyone as well!"

"Ah, is that all?" he asked. Clicking his scrambler as I started my response.

"Yep!" I said. In that second of realization that he'd scrambled the garage feeds, I had a flash of Ranger ESP that had ever so slowly started rubbing off on me and I said, "what the fuck?! How do you know?! Fucking Batman! Did you tell the guys yet? We've been waiting to see how long it takes everyone to figure it out."

Steve let out a startled laugh and then eyed Ranger, "you've got a flag on her social, don't you?"

"Hey, Identity Theft is a real concern. We've got to make sure no one is out there pretending to be any of us," he replied, a little bit of a haunted look showing through to his face. I made a mental note to explain that to the others tonight. I hadn't considered it, but the fact that he was watching so carefully for that type of activity now definitely made sense, so I nodded in understanding. He continued, "but those flags only pop up on my computer and phone, so your secret is safe with me for the time being. I'd give you a hug Steph, but you're covered in paint."

"Yeah, I was dueling Hawkeye."

The look on Ranger's face clearly said, "why would you even try?" before he turned and offered Steve a handshake of congratulations.

"When did your alert come through?" asked Natasha.

"This morning, why?"

Natasha scoffed. "I figured it out the same day, Steph. That was like four and a half days before him. Next time you don't have to wonder, super spies definitely beat Batman."

"That's not fair; you live with them! You have inside knowledge," claimed Ranger.

"In espionage, there is no fair or unfair, only first," taunted Natasha.

"I don't know how, but one of these days, I'm going to tie this up."

* * *

**A/N: **I know what you're thinking, "another chapter already?!" The truth is that I'm so excited about what's coming down the road that I just can't get myself to stop writing. We're going to have some fun! In case you missed it, I did have to go back yesterday and fix up the timeline in the last chapter a little. And you should definitely all be thanking Michelle for helping to spur on this current writing binge! In other words, GOOD THINGS HAPPEN WHEN YOU REVIEW! ;)

Now, without further ado, here's the conversation with Hector. I'm pretty confident in its accuracy, less possible regional/country differences, but if I made a mistake, just let me know!

"I need your help."

"Yes, I'll help you."

"It's a secret."

"I understand that."

"Congratulations, Angelita (Little Angel). And you as well, Captain Rogers!"

"Thanks, Hector."

"It's a secret for now."

"Yes, Angelita. A secret. What do you need?"

"Can you perfect these?"

"Of course."

"Thanks, Hector."


	19. Chapter 19

**Disclaimer: **The characters and things you recognize in this story don't belong to me. They belong to Marvel and Janet Evanovich. I'm pretty sure you'll recognize which is which. Mistakes belong to me.

Chapter 19

_**Steph's POV**_

We were right, it actually was a ton of fun watching people figure out that we had gotten married. The biggest surprise to me had been that the next people to figure it out after Ranger were my dad and Grandma Mazur. We'd actually called and set up dinner that Monday night with every intention of telling them, but we'd only been sitting at the table for about 10 minutes when Grandma blurted it out. They'd both been really excited when we confirmed it, and I apologized for them not being there to see it. Instead of being angry, however, they just asked if I was happy that it had been just the two of us. When I said I was, they said that was all they needed to be happy. I don't think I had ever been more grateful to have my mother not be somewhere than I was in that moment. She would have freaked out.

When they altered their stance to be that their happiness relied on me being happy and also lots of pictures, I just laughed. I promised I would give them each a photo album if they promised to not tell _anyone_ until after we'd made a public announcement. Grandma Mazur was a little disappointed, so I told her that if I could, I'd give her a couple hours warning so she could have the inside scoop to giver her hair dresser buddies.

We didn't go see Connie, Lula, or Mary Lou that trip because I knew I wouldn't be able to keep it a secret from them, and they wouldn't be able to keep it a secret from The Burg when they found out. They'd be a little upset when they found out, but I figured it would wear off quickly enough and I'd find a way to win their forgiveness. I was good at bribing.

In fact, after a two-day campaign of cajoling and bribing, and continually pointing out who my new partner was, I managed to convince everyone to let me retest for the field just two days after my Rangeman visit. Really none of the Rangemen or Avengers (to which Sam had "officially" been added) had a single leg to stand on trying to keep me from doing so, considering how little time any of them took off when injured. I also continually pointed out that Dr. Chastain, who had decided to stay on with us, had cleared me. I even had her re-clear me after the first day of sparring and the increased training I did the next day.

Wednesday I passed my re-certification test. For every category but the running, I managed to do so with flying colors. While I may have been disappointed with my run time, it was actually better than my initial qualifying test. That was a pleasant surprise that really drove home to me how much work I'd been doing and how much I'd accomplished. And it was still a pass. Plus, if a skip ran on us, I sincerely doubted that they'd outrun Bucky for more than a couple feet anyway.

Thursday I was feeling comfortable in my own skin, at peace, and back to my normal self, and thrilled to be back on the street.

Bucky and I had run searches on our first skip together, and my first NY skip, the day before and gotten a few leads on him. Both of our guts agreed, so we'd been staking out an "abandoned" row house on the outskirts of the city for a couple hours. Although he wasn't as bad as some of the Rangman or Ranger himself, Bucky still wasn't as chatty on stakeouts as I might have liked. At least he didn't get annoyed at my chattering, though I suspected that might have been because he mostly filtered it out.

Given the neighborhood we were in, we hadn't taken the Porsche on this stakeout, instead going with the standard Rangeman-issue black SUV. This guy was such a low-level bond for a non-violent crime with no previous record, that I'd managed to convince everyone we didn't need backup. It was just an easy ship on whom to cut our teeth. Sitting next to Bucky I wasn't at all concerned for my safety, but I could easily tell Bucky was currently more The Winter Soldier than Bucky Barnes. In fact, rather than scaring me, it make me very comfortable. If things went sideways, I knew we'd get out. This clown was nothing compared to The Winter Soldier.

Finally we were rewarded when we saw our skip enter the house alone. We called in to the Control Room to let them know we were going in and didn't anticipate needing backup, but provided our location and an expected check-in time of five minutes later before we hustled out of the SUV. Bucky took the back door and I took the front, counting down on our coms before bursting in.

I cleared each room headed toward the back and was surprised when Bucky made his way to me in the front with neither of us finding the guy. The house was three stories, and my spidey senses had started going off.

"I've got a bad feeling about this," I warned Bucky. He agreed, so I quietly called in for backup as we went up the stairs back to back and cleared the second floor. By the time we got up the last set of stairs and halfway through the third floor, I heard a sound I knew too well- that whoosh of flames taking over fresh territory. I hit my panic button and we quickly cleared the last room, unsurprised to find it empty, then started running downstairs. We quickly noticed that all of the walls except for the one by the front door were on fire, and there was no way that wasn't a trap. Still, I didn't want to be burned alive, so I started toward it and Bucky just pulled me back to the stairs.

"Bucky," I yelled, trying to be heard over the flames. "Up is a bad call with fire."

"We're just going to the second floor, but we need to go now."

Not questioning any further because he clearly had a plan, I allowed Bucky to lead me back to the second floor. He used his gun to break a window on the back wall and looked out. "Okay, I don't see anyone. I'm going to jump out, and as long as no one starts shooting, you're going to jump and I'm going to catch you. Then we're going to hide in that back corner over there, and wait for backup to get here, okay?"

I nodded in agreement, waiting as Bucky jumped out. I let out a sigh of relief when no one shot at him, and another when he caught me without any problems. We hustled over into the back corner and I laughed at the surprised look on our skips face when we found him hiding there as well. Sharing a "who knows" look with Bucky, I cuffed the skip and held onto him while Bucky kept his gun out and trained at the front of the house.

"How many are out front?" I demanded.

"None! I'm here alone!"

Bucky looked back at me in disbelief.

"Stop lying to me," I yelled.

"I'm not lying. One of my neighbors told me that someone was watching the place, and I knew it was probably bounty hunters. I'm not stupid!" Yeah. Jury's still out on that one, I had a feeling he was quite wrong on that matter. Especially when he continued, "I wanted to scare you off, so I set a big fire, but I figured if I left the front door free, you'd just go out that and leave. Why the hell would you jump out the window when there was a perfectly good door?"

I used my watch connection to JARVIS to relay the fact that we were pretty sure backup would prove to be unnecessary but would rather be safe than sorry. I told him to go ahead and tell Steve he didn't need to come and the Rangeman would take care of it. Bucky flat out laughed at that and I glared at him.

"It's worth a try!" I exclaimed, just before JARVIS replied, "Captain Rogers is glad to hear that you're alright, but insists that he'll make sure of it himself."

Suddenly there was a really big boom and Bucky turned to look at me as I cursed. Despite Bucky's protests, I drew my gun again, keeping the other hand on the skip, I shuffled us sideways to look past the end house to where our SUV was parked down the street. Or rather where our SUV had been parked. Sure enough, the SUV was a few feet from where we'd left it and was also not so much an SUV anymore as a raging ball of flames to match the house in front of us.

"How the fuck did that happen?" I asked Bucky, wide-eyed.

He just shook his head in response and said, "the guys warned me about this, and I didn't believe them."

"Hey, this is not my fault! You parked the car!"

"I didn't say it was your fault, Dollface!"

JARVIS came back onto the speaker attached to my watch and said, "patching Captain Rogers through."

"Steph, are you there? What happened to your car?"

"Hell if I know, Steve."

At this point, the skip clearly put together the combination of the fact that I was a bounty hunter along with the "Captain Rogers" and "Steve" he'd heard because he went completely white and started crying.

"Fuck! You're Stephanie Plum! Captain America is your boyfriend. Oh fuck, you bitch, he's definitely going to kill me! Why didn't you go out the front door so I could run away? What the hell?"

"Son!" Steve's voice boomed, in full on Captain America timbre, out of my watch, "you cursing at her isn't making me any happier."

And then my skip peed himself. "Steve," I whined, "did you have to do that? He peed his pants!"

"Yes," came Steve's slightly amused reply.

"Well, at least he's not getting in our car, Bucky."

Bucky sighed, "Steph, that's because our car exploded."

"Yeah, but still, every cloud has a silver lining, right?"

Our backup arrived shortly after that and before the fire department, clearing the front of the house. Just like the skip had said, it wasn't a trap, no one was waiting for us out there. We led the skip around to the front and when the Merry Men started clapping, I did a mini-bow while still holding onto the skip.

"Just wanted to make sure you knew I was back and that there would be no more slacking off," I called out.

Before we could get the skip all the way to one of the SUVs for transport, a familiar rumbling came down the street. I pulled back a little, watching with a smile as Steve pulled up on his bike, shield affixed to his back. The others let out hoots of surprised laughter when the skip peed his pants again.

"Seriously?" I asked. "What did you drink like a gallon of water before you came home or something?"

When he started shaking, I just passed him off to Bucky and said, "see you back at the office, Winter Soldier," with a wink when the skip, who somehow hadn't put _that_ together even with the metal arm started crying for his mommy.

I walked up to Steve who was leaning against his bike and threw my arms around him for a kiss.

He pulled back and said, "smokey. Do you need to see Bobby?"

"I'm fine, we were only in the house for a little while while it was on fire."

That was the wrong answer because I then found myself dragged over to Bobby. Bucky shackled the skip into the car and then asked, "what's wrong?!"

"Nothing, Steve's just being Captain Worry Wart because we were in the house when it was on fire."

Hearing that Bobby strapped an oxygen mask onto my face despite my hands trying to smack him away. I waited patiently as he took all my vitals and listened to my lungs before taking the mask back off. "Thank you!" I exclaimed "I told you I was fine." At least they didn't know that I'd jumped out of a second story window to get out of the house, I thought.

When Bucky groaned I realized I'd more than thought that last bit. Double damn. I rolled my eyes when the fussing started again, "Bucky caught me!"

Thankfully, the remainder of our skips for the rest of that week and the beginning of the next came in with no problem. Then it was somehow Christmas. Steve and I had agreed to go to the Stark gala on Christmas Eve, bonus points for it being in the tower with a lack of red carpet and for Tony giving invites to all of the Rangeman Trenton and Manhattan employees.

This time, I hadn't even blinked when Tony said he had a dress made for me. It was a silver a-line gown that fit me like a dream. After much convincing from Steve, I wore my hair up and only light makeup on my neck. I was pleasantly surprised when among the guests of the evening were Ellen DeGeneres and Portia. Getting to talk to Ellen for the second time, I managed, just barely, to not fangirl on her again.

They both politely asked about my recovery, noting my scar, but not making a big deal about its presence. In fact, they seemed much more interested in my dress when I mentioned that it was another Tony Stark body armor creation, insisting that they wouldn't have been able to tell if I hadn't said anything. Looks like Tony had another career path available to him if he ever got bored with being an Avenger. We didn't have a chance to chat too much longer, as we all needed to make the rounds, but as we were leaving, I hinted to Ellen that maybe we'd have something to share on her show sometime soon. If she was interested. That was greeted with a happy, "you're welcome anytime!"

Everyone else flew to Malibu after the party, but Steve and I stayed in the Tower. Getting back into our apartment at the end of the night was an important milestone for us both. All night we couldn't help but think of the last time we'd been dressed up for a similar event. It was a good thing that Bucky and Sam were on a plane on their way out of the state because we did not make it to the bedroom. Considering that we almost didn't make it to the elevator, I consider the living room couch to be a victory. Then since we were out of the bedroom anyway, we celebrated in some other rooms as well- the dining room, kitchen, and studio all got some "quality time".

Needless to say, we slept in for our first Christmas morning as a married couple, though I did make the experience complete with holiday lingerie on my part. We had bought each other wedding rings as our presents, but still had some smaller tokens for each other to open. Tony had insisted that if the entire team was in California, the Quinjet needed to be too, so we took it to Trenton- parking on Rangeman's roof before popping in briefly to see them then over for an early dinner with my dad's house. After that, we were on our way to Malibu, California.

With only a pilot and a copilot closed off in the cockpit for a flight crew, we finally joined the mile high club. In a quinjet. While flying at just over Mach 2. I was pretty certain that not many other people could say that, and I kind of wondered if that had been some weird Christmas present from Tony in itself. Knowing him as I did, I assumed that was the case. When we arrived in Malibu, we had a second Christmas dinner with our Avengers family, exchanged some presents, and then simply relaxed.

Tony had convinced us all, as long as there were no world-wide crisis, to take the week between Christmas and New Year's off to relax in the California sun. I had not been difficult to convince. Steve and I spent some of the time hanging out with the group, but mostly we went on outings together and treated it like a honeymoon. Neither of us had spent time in Southern California, so we did the tourist thing, Steve with his baseball hat firmly tucked over his head. I did feel as though we got recognized more quickly when we were out though.

As far as Tony's house itself was concerned, I liked the quiet of the secluded property, and the warm weather that was definitely missing from New York when we left. Some discussion was had about what to do New Year's Eve, and I was thrilled when we decided just to spend a quiet one in the house. Tony pouted a little, but Pepper let him build another suit in exchange, and he was happy. Natasha explained that suit building had become an obsession for Tony, and Pepper had been severely limiting the number he was allowed to create since then, which is what made it an effective bribe.

Steve and I enjoyed wearing our rings around the house, but grew increasingly frustrated with having to take them off before we went outside. My engagement ring was an absolutely gorgeous Neil Lane 3-carat asscher cut diamond ring with tapered baguettes, accented with small sapphires and rubies set in platinum. The wedding band was actually two identical, thin bands that slid easily under the engagement ring to border it. Each had matching platinum with small infinity diamonds and, again, had hints of sapphire and ruby. It came across with a touch of I-married-Captain-America without being tacky. I had tried to talk Steve down on the ring size and the extra gems, but he'd been insistent and told me we were insuring them well.

Natasha had apparently pulled some strings and found enough vibranium that we were able to have Steve's wedding band made out of that. It had a subtle etching of his shield design, and, obviously, was made out of the same material which was awesome.

Although our no-one-knows-we're-married game had been fun, we decided we were ready to call it quits. So we conspired with Pepper, and stayed in Malibu for an extra couple of weeks before making a second appearance on the Ellen Show. Everyone else agreed to stay as well, knowing how much of a ruckus we were about to cause and no one really being sure what the public reaction was going to be. Like I said, the weather was warm, and two plus a bit extra weeks of not having to do really anything and thus being able to go to bed early at night and stay in bed late in the mornings with my new husband was perfectly fine with me. If anything I was feeling the most relaxed I'd ever felt in my life, and that just-had-sex glow was a permanent part of my wardrobe.

_**Steve's POV**_

It was strange, but heading into the Ellen show the second time, Steph was completely carefree and confident. I, on the other hand, was a nervous wreck. Not because of the show or the interview, though publicity would never be my favorite thing; rather because of what we were going to be revealing. True, it turned out that Batroc, who as I'd predicted was suspiciously silent after his last failed attempt was the only one so far to go after Steph for being my girlfriend, but I was worried that her being my wife would make that target larger and more obvious to more people.

It helped a lot to know that any time Steph went out in the field, she had Bucky backing her up. Although it was strange at first to see them partnered together when, for so many years, it had been Bucky and me against the world. It also made me really happy, though, to see them get along so well. Bucky was as good as a brother to me, and I could see that he was quickly making it to the top of Stephanie's list of honorary brothers as well.

When the first day that they went out on the streets, Stephanie's panic button went off, I cursed myself ten times a fool for not insisting on going with them for backup. Then JARVIS told me their car had blown up and I freaked out until I heard her voice talking into my com and joking with Bucky. So, I'd overreacted a little and made her see Bobby when I got to the scene, even though she said she was fine, and she let me. I had a feeling it was too much to hope for that calls like that would stop coming in, so instead I focused on being grateful that Bucky was there to help her out of her situations. As much as I wanted to wrap her in bubble wrap and lock her away with me in the Tower, I knew this was an important part of her and my role was to be supportive. And if I did so while planning out her training with Natasha (sans yelling, of course), no one would blame me.

We'd already discussed our contingency plans a couple times in the lead up to our public marriage announcement. Stephanie had agreed to stay in from the streets until things calmed down for her after our announcement. Without too much argument, she'd agreed to give us a full month no matter what, which would allow us to deal with the initial media storm and assess where the situation settled once the fervor wore down. Surprisingly, she'd also fairly easily been talked into agreeing with the possibility of extending the amount of time if she was still being hounded by media after the month was over. She reasoned that if people were camped out, stalking her every move, she wasn't going to be able to be at all stealthy or effective as a bounty hunter anyway.

Though she hadn't discussed with the group at large, she had told me about her talks with Bucky and Ranger for alternative options for her if the press coverage never really died down enough to give her the same freedom of movement again. I felt awful that it was a very real possibility, but she reassured me that she'd understood the situation going in and she wouldn't, for one second, even consider trading our relationship for being able to bounty hunt. Alright, I felt awful about most of it except for the fact that she wasn't going to be able to do distractions anymore both because she'd be more recognizable. And because one paparazzi shot of that situation and we'd have a media shit storm on our hands. I hadn't been lying when we were dating and I said I was okay with her doing distractions, but I was admittedly even more okay with her _not_ doing distractions.

No matter how the next month or so shook out, one thing was clear, we were about to drop a bomb and possibly set a lot of things into play. All of this was on my mind as we walked into the TV studio space. This time, Ellen wisely decided not to try scaring any of us in the dressing room, though she did joke with us about it before the show, leading us into the fake dressing room first. As we had the first time, we sat around shooting the breeze for a while before it was time for everyone to get ready for the show. Unfortunately, I hadn't been able to relax during that time.

So this time, as we were standing waiting for Ellen to announce us, it was Stephanie who was trying to calm me down.

"I know you're worried about what comes after this," she whispered, "but whatever it is, we'll get through it together, okay?"

I nodded, relaxing only a tiny bit, so she leaned up and gave me a kiss and said, "let's have fun because we only get to make this announcement once!"

I laughed at her excitement and it shook a lot of my tension loose. Enough that this time when we walked out the music the DJ queued up, I let go enough to dance a little with Steph.

"_I found out that everybody talks_

_Everybody talks, everybody talks_

_It started with a whisper_

_And that was when I kissed her_

_And then she made my lips hurt_

_I can hear the chitchat..."_

This time, there was actually a loveseat set up, which was good because Steph was wearing a dress, and I put her on the outside, closer to the camera, so that my larger frame wouldn't block her. Ellen tried a couple times to get talking, and I just laughed and said, "they sure know how to make people feel good, don't they," which started off another round of cheering and screaming from the audience.

"Look what you did," Steph whispered at me, and I winked at her. Note to self: winking such that the camera sees it does not help the screaming situation either.

Ellen finally got them to settle down and said, "alright, well, how are ha? You both look good." We waited a couple beats for the clapping to calm down before both answering that we were well.

"And Stephanie, how are you feeling? You've had some, I guess I'll call it health problems since we last saw you a couple months ago, but you're looking healthy."

Steph chuckled nervously next to me and said, "well, really, I guess getting shot in the neck and living is kind of the opposite of a health problem. More of a health miracle really."

"Sure," Ellen said, nodding her head in agreement.

"But, I'm feeling truly great, all things considered."

"Thankfully," I added.

"Okay, so obviously, the world didn't see a lot of you after the incident for a while. Then a few weeks ago, you popped up in Boston of all places."

"What's wrong with Boston? We liked it." Steph interrupted. There were a couple people in the audience who loudly cheered that so Steph played along saying, "Yeah, Boston! Cannoli from Mike's Pastry are heavenly!"

That got a few more cheers, and a laughing Ellen said, "there's nothing wrong with Boston. I mean, it's not Hollywood, but Boston's good. I'll have to try out Mike's Pastry next time I go."

"Anyway there were some pictures of you guys with the Avengers in Boston then a few here and there over the holidays. How are things going? You're still living together right?"

"Right," I confirmed.

"So, any talks of, oh, I don't know, getting engaged or anything like that?" Ellen pressed in a friendly and cheeky manner, much to the audience's delight.

And then we were at the moment of truth and I felt blood pounding in my head.

"Well, it's a little complicated," I started.

"The good things usually are," joked Ellen.

I was having a difficult time gathering my words, so Stephanie continued for me. "We'd actually talked about it before the shooting at the ball, but we kind of felt like we'd only been together a few weeks at that point and it was 'too soon' to actually get engaged. That was when we decided to move in together, really. Then there was the shooting…"

Stephanie choked up a little at that, so I took over for a little while, "that was a really very scary day for both of us. I could see it on Stephanie's face, she thought she was going to die. I thought she was going to die before we got her to that trauma center. I was second guessing allowing them to take her somewhere farther away at that point. She lost consciousness on the way, yeah…" I trailed off, clearing my throat. It definitely didn't help when I looked up and saw the tears in Ellen's eyes too.

"Anyway," Steph said, "we can get into that more later if we want to, but back to the whole engagement/wedding/marriage question. About, what would you say, Steve, three weeks after we got back to the tower?" I nodded my agreement, and she continued, "we had a date night, just in our apartment because I really still couldn't go out at that point. I was just starting to walk around a little at a time for exercise, but I couldn't do much and we didn't want to be out and have me have a setback. I think we'd both had A LOT of time to think about what we almost lost that day, and we agreed that waiting for some particular time milestone when we already knew what we wanted was dumb. So Steve proposed right there in our living room, and I said yes. It was perfect," she finished, giving me a kiss.

"So you got engaged in November!" There were cheers in the audience and Ellen playfully said, "but you know, Captain. Usually there's some sort of ring or something involved, but I don't see a ring on her finger."

The camera zoomed in on Stephanie's empty ring finger and I chuckled and shot the crowd an amused look when a few of them playfully booed.

"So where's her ring, Steve?" pressed Ellen.

"Well, actually," I said, pulling our rings out of my pocket and handing mine to Steph. "You're asking the wrong question, Ellen. You should be asking where her rings, plural are. And where mine is…" I trailed off slipping Stephanie's on hers finger after she slipped mine on, and pulling her hand up to give her a kiss over her rings, "because, and we haven't told many people yet, so you're some of the first to know, we actually got married about a month later."

The crowd went absolutely crazy at this, and so did Ellen because we'd managed to make it onto the show and through pre-interviews without letting slip that piece of news and caught her completely by surprise. When the cheers wouldn't die down, Ellen managed to throw it to a commercial break as she was enveloping us in hugs.

This time, rather than trying to yell over the noise the audience was making as they danced during the break, we actually had a brief offstage meeting with Ellen and her production team who seemed to be a mix of delighted and also horrified over the fact that they didn't have any warning. Ellen and Stephanie were just laughing at their antics though, so I guess we'd be forgiven in the long-haul.

"Do you have any pictures for us?"

Stephanie and I had picked out a couple and put them on a flash drive of their own before the show, and she just handed them over to one of the production assistants. While all this was going on, they also ran through a set-change, switching out the love seat for a large semi-circular couch.

We came back from the commercial break with Stephanie and Ellen dancing around in the crowd to "The Way You Make Me Feel" before dancing back down to the stage and joining me at the couch, where I was standing and clapping for them. I settled Stephanie down next to me before taking my seat.

"Alright, so before the break, you let us know that you two are married," she paused to let the audience applause die down when a wedding picture flashed onto the screen behind us. "Very nice, you're a good looking couple. Anyway so now I have to apologize to Stephanie for introducing her as Stephanie Plum. Are you planning to change your name, Steph?"

"Well, nothing to apologize about since we didn't give you any advance notice, but yes, I do plan to change my name now that we've made the official announcement to you all," Steph said with a gesture to the crowd, "and the rest of the world."

"Now why did you keep it to yourselves for so long?"

"You know," I said, "well, it was Stephanie's idea."

"Hey!" pouted Steph.

"Wow, you just threw her under the bus!" laughed Ellen.

"You didn't let me finish! It was Stephanie's idea, and a good one. We just figured so much of our personal lives has become public knowledge that it would be kinda fun to see how long we could keep this secret to ourselves." I said, hoping that I'd managed to pull my foot out of my mouth.

Stephanie spent the next minute talking about planning the surprise wedding and relaxing the process had been. As she was explaining, I just thought to myself about how perfect it really had been to keep it this way. It made it about our marriage and us as a couple. A prolonged and public engagement would have just turned the whole thing into a circus. I tuned back in as Steph managed to seamlessly fit in the plug for the inn at which we'd gotten married, just as she's promised while talking about another picture that had shown up on the screen behind us.

"We also had fun seeing who that we were close to would figure it out first," added Stephanie.

"And who did?" asked Ellen.

"Well, I'll tell you what, I think I might have seen a few of them hanging around backstage. What do you all think? Should we bring some of them out here to ask?"

The crowd went nuts and music started playing with Ellen dispersing their names throughout for introductions:

"_Where have all the good men gone_

_And where are all the gods?"_

_THOR!_

"_Where's the street-wise Hercules_

_To fight the rising odds?"_

BRUCE BANNER!

"_Isn't there a white knight upon a fiery steed?_

_Late at night I toss and I turn and I dream of what I need_

_I need a hero"_

TONY STARK!

"_I'm holding out for a hero 'til the end of the night_

_He's gotta be strong_

_And he's gotta be fast"_

HAWKEYE!

"_And he's gotta be fresh from the fight_

_I need a hero_

_I'm holding out for a hero 'til the morning light"_

FALCON!

"_He's gotta be sure_

_And it's gotta be soon_

_And he's gotta be larger than life"_

THE WINTER SOLDIER!

Then the music transitioned over to some song I didn't recognize, the crowd went nuts realizing that Natasha, who made the least number of public appearances must also be here. She'd shown up in court when subpoenaed, but other than that, she was more camera shy even than Bruce. When Stephanie had asked her to come though, Natasha had agreed without any reluctance saying celebrating us was as good a reason as any. Much to my surprise since she usually made as little splash as possible, Natasha was clearly in a playful mood when she heard her song.

"_Looks like a girl, but she's a flame_

_So bright, she can burn your eyes_

_Better look the other way_

_You can try but you'll never forget her name_

_She's on top of the world_

_Hottest of the hottest girls say"_

BLACK WIDOW!

Natasha made her way slowly out, waving at the crowd on her way. Then she walked over to the couch where everyone had filed in one at a time, which would have placed her on the end of the couch. And while swaying along to the music, she gestured for all the guys to move back out and for Steph and I to switch places, so that she would be on Stephanie's other side.

"_Ohhhh oh oh oh_

_We got our feet on the ground_

_And we're burning it down_

_Ohhhh oh oh oh oh_

_Got our head in the clouds_

_And we're not coming down"_

At this point, Natasha'd made her way to Stephanie and they had their arms around each other's waists rocking side-by-side, enjoying the moment for just a little longer.

"_This girl is on fire..._

_This girl is on fire..._

_She's walking on fire..._

_This girl is on fire..."_

Natasha finally sat and when we all just stared at her, she gave her trademark smirk and said, "it's a good song," accepting the high five Steph gave her.

"It is, isn't it?" Ellen chimed up.

"Alright, so, these two got hitched," Ellen pointing her thumb sideways at Steph and I, "who figured it out first?"

Natasha raised her hand and said, "that would be me!"

"And how did you figure it out?"

"It was easy! So, Steph had just gotten her final medical clearance from the doctor and…" suddenly Natasha stopped and trailed off. Stephanie flushed bright red and buried her face in my shoulder when Natasha said, "you know, I'm not really sure how to tell this story."

The entire couch on her other side was busting up laughing at the situation and Ellen looked a little confused.

Natasha slowly continued, "so the first thing Stephanie did after being cleared was pack a bag, grab Steve, and head out of town. I thought this was odd because I figured there were… we'll say other things she'd want to do first."

More hardly muffled laughter came from the other end of the couch and Stephanie shot them all death glares before gesturing for Natasha to hurry up and continue.

"So, I ran some searches on them both and saw that they had a hotel reservation in Boston. We left right away to drive up there and see what was going on, waiting for them to check in to their hotel. It took them 9 hours to get there when it was only a three and a half or so hour drive, so when they finally arrived, I asked them what was going on. Then I didn't relent until they told us they'd just gotten married."

I barked out a laugh and said, "she says that as though she just calmly and nicely asked."

Ellen, "is that not how it happened?"

"Nope, she was basically standing right in the doorway when we walked into our suite and she went all super spy interrogator on Stephanie until she cracked."

"Steph tried to pretend nothing happened," added Clint, "but Tasha saw right through it. Of course, it didn't help at all that Steve was standing behind her looking guilty as all heck."

Everyone laughed and Sam agreed, "he's the world's worst liar."

"You know, I don't think I find it all that surprising that Captain America can't lie," said Ellen, "and I'm sure that'll be convenient for you, Stephanie. And were you all surprised by the fact that they had gotten married despite, as they've admitted, having not been together very long?"

"No!" came the resounding and instant reply from around the couch with Clint choosing to add, "from the first day you could tell how they just kind of went together. And there was a mutual trust and respect that made us all recognize how well they would work as a couple."

"And they're just so stinking cute together. Like all the time. If you're sitting there thinking that they're like they are right now, just for the camera, you're wrong." Sam said with a gesture toward us. I looked down, surprised to see that I had both of Steph's hands in mine and she was resting against me comfortably. "See! They don't even realize they're doing it. We live with them and I'll tell you, they're like that all damn the time."

"So, all the Avengers, have nicknames, Steph. And I know you've said you're not becoming an Avenger anytime soon, but do you have a nickname?"

That brought another round of laughter, and Ellen asked, "what?"

"I call her Sleeping Beauty," said Tony, "because she really likes her sleep and is difficult to wake up. Coffee helps, but Steve has the easiest time of all of us waking her up."

The audience laughed at that, and then Sam piped up, "Steve, you don't use nicknames much, but you call her Honey and Sweetheart sometimes, right?"

"Among others, yes," Stephanie confirmed. That got a round of "awwwws" from everyone in the room.

"The rest of us don't really have nicknames for her, yet," said Bruce, "but her coworkers sure do!"

"Hey, I have nicknames for her!" protested Bucky.

"Well, you're her partner now, so technically I wasn't wrong!" Bruce justified.

"Wait, Bucky, I thought you were an Avenger, but you work with Steph?" Ellen asked.

Bucky shrugged, "I'm more part-time Avenger these days- they'll call me in for the big stuff, but otherwise I get to hang out with Steph when she's working. Bring in some bad guys," he said with a little bit of a smirk.

The women in the audience went absolutely crazy when he smirked, and Ellen laughed, "I think you just about set the room on fire. Anyway, so tell us about Steph's work nicknames then."

Stephanie covered her face and groaned, and I just rubbed her back.

"Well, I most often call her Doll. Or Dollface when I'm trying to get back on her good side after makin' her angry. That's a thing from when we were kids, right Steve?" I nodded my head in agreement, and Bucky continued, "then she has a different nickname from almost everyone. The one that the largest number of people call her is probably Bombshell or Bomber, but there's also Babe, Beautiful, Angel, Angelita, and Little Girl. I think that's most of them."

"Wait, you let someone call you Little Girl?" asked Ellen

Stephanie just shrugged, "yeah, well, that's Tank. He pretty much is what his name suggests, so compared to him I _am_ a Little Girl, so I let it slide. I wouldn't recommend anyone else try it though!"

"And how is it to work with Steph?"

"Exciting. I'm new to bounty hunting, and I'm told it isn't always like this, but our very first skip burned down a track of abandoned row houses and blew up our car to try to get away."

There were gasps in the audience, so Natasha tossed out, "and they had to jump out of a second story window because they were inside the row house at the time."

"I had the pleasure of sparring with the Lady Stephanie a few times over the past month, and she is a brilliant fighter. I believe she and Soldier will be well paired in battle," contributed Thor.

We all nodded in agreement, including Bucky and Steph leaned over Thor to punch Thor playfully in the shoulder.

"So you have the Winter Soldier as a partner at work, you're married to Captain America, and you're dance buddies with Black Widow?"

Steph snapper her fingers and pointed at Natasha, "we've got to start having dance parties."

Natasha laughed but nodded her head. "I mean, sure those are all of their field names, but these are my friends and my adopted family of sorts now."

"Well, I wouldn't want to mess with you then. Now, the estrogen on this couch is pretty overpowered by testosterone. Does it ever get stifling? Do you have a difficult time making yourself heard?"

We all laughed and Natasha smirked when Tony said, "trust me, the guys and I are under no illusion that anyone other than those two and Pepper are in charge."

Natasha and Steph declined to say anything more, so Ellen continued, "well, be that as it may, maybe you'll get a chance to even it out some. I mean Steve and Steph, you know what they say..."

"What?" I asked, concerned by the mischief in Ellen's eyes.

"First comes love, then comes marriage..."

The other Avengers and the audience all chimed in yelling, "then comes a baby in a baby carriage!"

Steph rolled her eyes and responded, "I don't think I've heard that since fourth grade!" And I just laughed and shrugged my shoulders.

"I'll need at least three months notice to baby proof the Tower, you two," Tony vamped.

"Well, you're in luck then, Tony," I teased in return, "because I'm pretty sure that if and when the time comes for that, babies come with more like nine months of warning. Unless you have something you and Pepper need to tell us?"

The audience hooted with laughter when Tony paled, and stuttered in response, "don't even joke about it, I'm still a kid! And, that's how rumors get started!"

We went to another commercial break and all took a few minutes to stretch. Steph and I joked a bit with Ellen, and Natasha gave some poor guy in the audience a heart attack dancing with him.

We came back for the last main interview segment, and Ellen set a serious tone.

"Alright, if you're okay with it, we're going to talk a bit about the shooting we alluded to earlier because you haven't talked to anyone and people want to know." Steph and I exchanged glances before nodding our heads in reluctant agreement. "Okay, our parent station had a camera there, so we're going to show a clip of it. I want to warn our audience, especially any children, that this could be upsetting, so you may want to skip the next few seconds."

Steph crushed my hand in hers and squeezed her eyes shut, and I looked studiously away, noting that the others all watched.

"First I want to say, the clip is one thing, obviously we've shown it, and it was news. But shortly after that, there was a privacy breach in the hospital and some reporters and organizations chose to report information that they really shouldn't have had. And that's not right. So, I guess I just want to apologize on behalf of the industry."

The audience clapped heartily and we all just nodded our heads solemnly while Stephanie murmured her thanks.

"Now, what were you thinking when that happened, Steph?"

"Honestly I'm probably the worst person to ask. I felt something weird on my neck, but I wasn't sure what was happening. I remember pulling my hand away and seeing the blood, which was more confusing. Then I felt the bullet hit my chest, which was a feeling I recognized and I thought, 'Oh fuck, not again!'" Steph's eyes went wide and the covered her mouth while the audience let out surprised gasps and Natasha started laughing. "I'm so sorry."

"That's okay, this isn't live, we'll edit it out! And, given the context, I don't think any of us will hold it against you. I'd probably say the same thing."

"Anyway, that's about all I've got other than thinking I was going to die until I woke up in the hospital the next day. I do need to give so much credit to these guys for everything they did that day," she made direct eye contact with Bucky at that and he inclined his head in a slow nod of understanding. Ellen clearly saw the exchange, understood, and let it go as Steph added, "and Dr. Chastain, who was the primary surgeon, and the rest of the medical crew at the hospital."

I echoed her sentiment, gave a brief rundown of my state of mind when asked, and listened to the perspectives my teammates added. Truthfully, I was grateful when Ellen ended that part of the interview quickly.

We ended the show watching Steph and Clint collaborate on a game Ellen had cooked up and seemed fully aware was just completely ridiculous. She had a giant wall of "bugs" on a wall at which they were using slingshots to fling stuffed hawks. The show was going to give $500 per bug they "fed" to a hawk to the children's charity that had missed out on its fundraising ball. When they finished by knocking all of them down, Steph holding her own but no match for Hawkeye, one of Ellen's staff walked out with a pre-made check for $50,000. Then to our surprise, Pepper walked out with matching checks from Stark Industries and Rangeman Security. Steph was beaming with joy, and I caught sight of a Ranger standing in the shadows off stage. I gave him a nod of appreciation, which he returned with a salute.

We said our goodbyes to Ellen, thanking her for having us on the show and headed for the airport, Rangeman security escort in place now that it was only a matter of time before the news hit the air. Ellen had warned us in the first commercial break that her channel would likely be running promos within the hour in their local news blocks, and possibly even have clips cut to air with a story in just a little over that. In short, the biggest media storm we'd seen yet was about to be upon us as would anything else it brought with it.


	20. Chapter 20

**Disclaimer: **The characters and things you recognize in this story don't belong to me. They belong to Marvel and Janet Evanovich. I'm pretty sure you'll recognize which is which. Mistakes belong to me.

* * *

Chapter 20

_**Steve's POV**_

Traveling in the modern world was still one of those things that threw me from time to time because it was just so different and convenient. Not as much when we flew on the quinjet or the helicopter because those were more serviceable crafts. It was when we flew on one of the Stark Industries private planes that I feltthe most out of my element. Stark Industries planes were all about comfort and convenience, which really shouldn't surprise anyone.

Even more, it was the fact that we were able to watch live TV and the live news channel that got me. And the fact that JARVIS was well connected enough that we could all use our phones in flight without any problems. Stephanie scooted off to the corner of the plane while we watched the news, waiting to see if and when the story would air. She was unleashing Grandma Mazur on the Burg, and also calling Mary Lou, Lula, and Connie to tell them herself, instead of them finding out through gossip. I laughed when I heard those three squeal, and Steph promise to come visit soon.

Done with her calls, Steph came back over to the sitting area with the TV in it we were all crammed into and crawled onto my lap. We'd been watching for just about that hour Ellen had warned us of when the first advertising spot popped up. No doubt aware that the story would catch fire after that, the following news segment was one about our wedding. Initial stories were straight facts- we'd made an appearance on the Ellen DeGeneres show, we'd announced our marriage, and we'd been married since the previous month.

It didn't take too long, however, for the news stations to start calling in "experts" to analyze our relationship, wedding as described, body language during the interview, and any nonsensical thing they could possibly pull up to "analyze". Once that started, it didn't take long for us to get called all kinds of names. The predominant talking points seemed to be that I was an alpha male suffering from "White Knight Syndrome" and that Stephanie was a "Gold Digger". We had expected all of this, however, and were doing a pretty good job of laughing it off with everyone else until onto the screen in front of us popped no other than Stephanie's mother.

As Stephanie's mother started spewing out the same filth she'd done the last time we'd seen her months ago, Pepper whipped out her phone faster than I'd seen yet. Although she had moved off to the site, I could hear her harshly threatening the station. When that didn't work, she had her lawyers on the phone in the next instant, rallying the lawyers around the terms "slander", "defamation of character", and muttering something along the lines of 'too bad we can't just sue her for being a heinous bitch" with which I wholeheartedly agreed.

I glanced down at Stephanie in my lap and noticed that while she was twisting her rings on her finger in a sign of distress, she wasn't crying or showing much more outwardly. I pulled her further into me and kissed the top of her head, satisfied when she stopped her fiddling and settled more fully against me. When Pepper got off the phone and walked over to turn off the TV, Stephanie stopped her saying, "might as well hear all of it and know what we're up against."

Pepper just ignored her and powered it down then she turned to Stephanie and said, "I think we've heard enough stupidity for the day. Now, Stephanie, your lawyers are on it. She'll be served with the first lawsuit probably before she can even leave the station. And the station will have theirs even faster."

"I don't have lawyers," Stephanie replied in a whisper sounding confused.

"You married an Avenger, and you've become part of our little family, of course you do. You've got a whole team of them."

Stephanie shifted uncomfortably at that and Natasha rolled her eyes, "no one here thinks you're a gold digger, Steph."

We all nodded our heads in agreement and I heard Steph mutter, "no one in their right mind would think I married him for only the money anyway. Just looking at him, you'd know the sex had to be good." I was grateful that no one else was able to hear that, but Stephanie clearly realized I did when I hardened beneath her. She went utterly still and turned to murmur "sorry" in my ear.

I put my mouth right up next to her ear and whispered, "what we have is way better than good," satisfied when she shivered and flushed red on my lap while nodding her agreement.

Tony clapped his hands, startling us both, and when we looked up he was gesturing between the two of us saying, "no more of that! We don't need to witness your foreplay, Newlyweds! We've just dealt with like three weeks straight of that, shouldn't it be getting old? Losing the sparkle?"

Stephanie and I grumbled out a, "Sorry, Tony" at the same time, causing everyone to laugh and our tension to ease a little.

"Babe, I mean, Steph," Ranger started with a quick look at me.

"Doesn't bother me if it doesn't bother Steph, Ranger. I'm not worried about either of you; I trust you both," I said truthfully.

Ranger actually looked slightly taken off guard, which I figured meant he had to be very surprised, before he continued, "we should come up with a security plan."

Before he could get going, Stephanie said, "I've already promised Steve and the others that I won't be going out in the field for Rangeman for at least a month while we try to get a grasp of the situation. I'm not willing to sit around in the tower going crazy each day though, so I still plan to come into the office. I can run searches, do paperwork, whatever you need from the building. Bucky can probably rotate around wherever you need him if he wants. No reason he can't go into the field just because I'm sidelined."

"Can't shake me that easy, Doll. Where you go, I go. That's how partners work. Whether we're stuck behind a desk for a month or indefinitely, I can handle it. That just means we can push you harder with your training, without worrying about you getting hurt in the field because you're too tired."

I expected Stephanie to complain about that, but she just nodded in agreement and said, "thanks, Buck!" before turning back to Ranger. "I still have my tracker since Batroc is who knows where, and I won't leave the Tower or Rangeman alone. I promise that if I need to go somewhere and I can't convince one of this lot to come with me, I will call the Control Room and let you bleed money."

Ranger nodded but said, "for the first week, we're going to put a team on you. Crowds will be easier to control with clearly uniformed guards on you and help give at least the illusion of outnumbering them."

I vocally agreed along with the rest of the team, so when Stephanie started to argue, I just said, "probably pretty good for business to be seen guarding someone like Steph. It'll help you to drum up business in your new office, and you'll get a reputation as an employer who cares about his employees' well beings."

Stephanie rolled her eyes at me and said, "you are sneaky in your own way, aren't you?"

When we arrived at the airport a couple hours later, Ranger asked us to wait in the plane for a few minutes while he checked out the situation. As soon as he popped his head back in the door, I knew we'd been made and started cursing under my breath. Steph had been asleep in the seat next to me, resting her head on my chest. She woke up when she heard me, and looked over at Ranger before sighing.

"How could they even?" She asked incredulously.

Natasha and Clint just started listing off ways they would go about getting the information as Stephanie started trying to fix up her already perfect appearance in the mirror, her face a comical mix of fascinated and discouraged. I knew how she felt, it was one thing to think in the abstract about the media blitz that was starting, but it was another thing entirely to begin to see the reality of the lengths they would go to in order to accomplish their intrusions. I sidled up behind her and nibbled on her ear playfully before saying, "you're already more gorgeous than should be legal. Let's get out of here so we can go home."

She gave me a kiss and we turned around to see an entire team of Rangemen standing there, watching us and smiling approvingly. Those who hadn't figured out that we were married rushed forward to offer their congratulations, and we only managed to move on when Tony loudly announced that he'd be throwing a wedding celebration for us in three to four weeks and they should all expect invitations soon.

"You're clear until we get off the Tarmac. Do you want to address them when we get inside?" asked Ranger."

Stephanie and I quickly declined and finished grabbing our things. I helped Steph into her shoes and then down the steps of the plane, catching her when she tripped. That was when I noticed she'd started trembling, so I held on a little tighter. When we'd made it safely to the bottom of the stairs, I pulled her into a long, steady hug.

"Shhhh, I got you, Sweetheart. You can do this, okay. It's going to be fine. Bunch of reporters can't be any scarier than some of those skips you chase down, right?"

I felt Stephanie take a deep breath then straighten her spine. Was it any wonder that I married her? She stretched up to give me a kiss on the cheek then stepped back and grabbed my hand. We both plastered smiles on our faces as the group tightened around us. Tank was in the lead, he opened the door and as soon as we stepped out we were surrounded by flashing cameras in front of photographers screaming our names.

I kept my arm around Steph's waist securely, letting her know I had her, but positioned in such a way as to portray casualness. She managed to portray a similar attitude, even shifting her head from side to side and smiling at the actual fans who were interspersed among the photographers. Still, we kept our pace steady and went directly to the waiting line of cars, each letting out a sigh of relief once the door was shut. Unsurprisingly, it was Clint and Natasha who had followed us into our vehicle, smiling and laughing the whole way.

Once the car had pulled out onto the highway, Lester twisted around from the front passenger seat, which Stephanie was sitting directly behind. He reached back and punched Stephanie on the arm, "why didn't you tell me you got married?" he whined.

Steph just punched him back and said, "This Time Beautiful's Going for an Upgrade! From Batman to Captain America: No more fake superheroes for our Bombshell Bounty Hunter!"

Lester gaped at her while the rest of us laughed at him.

"Oh, come on, that was like three months ago! You couldn't possibly still be holding that against me." When Stephanie just shrugged he pleaded, "come on, I won't do something like that ever again! You can trust me with your secrets."

Steph laughed and ruffled his hair but didn't comment further, and Lester went back to pouting.

"That was pretty good back there," Natasha said to smooth out the awkward silence. "And nice catch on the stairs, Cap. Steph, do we need to start climbing stairs in the mornings for practice?"

"No! I was just a little nervous, I'm good!"

"Well, the good news is that we can drive into the garage at the Tower and it should be press-free," I said. Stephanie smiled brightly at me and I added, "I'm guessing you don't want to go out to dinner tonight, Steph?"

"That's nice of you to offer, but I think I'm good with staying in. Can we order pizza?" the question was accompanied by her stomach growling and I just laughed, "I don't see why not. Why don't I place the order when we're about 10 minutes out so we don't have to wait that long?"

"I love you!"

"Actually, Tony has dinner already waiting for us in the Tower, including pizza, I believe."

Stephanie just shrugged and I said, "sounds good."

As we approached the Tower, we could see an even larger crowd than had been at the airport camped outside. When our convoy was noticed, they all started shouting and taking pictures in vain. We could barely hear them in the car, and they couldn't see us through the windows. It was still a relief when all the SUVs made it into the garage without anyone managing to slip in.

After we climbed out of the SUV, each of Steph's Merry Men offered another round of congratulations and support before they headed off for the evening. Ranger assured us that, given that we expected the crowd outside to grow, they'd have two extra ready cars to escort Steph and Bucky in the morning.

When we got into the elevator, and Tony's eye were barely containing his glee, it was clear that he was up to something.

"JARVIS!" He announced, "Take us to Chez Rogers!"

"With everybody's agreement, and the extra time in Malibu, we did a little bit of floor shuffling," explained Pepper, "and well, think of it as a belated wedding present. We hope you like it!"

Bucky elbowed Steph as he said, "and for our contribution, Sam and I are moving out and giving you guys some space to do all your married couple shit."

I was absolutely thrilled when Steph was the one who said, "you don't have to do that, we like having you around."

Sam said, "We can still hang out, we'll only be a couple floors away. But we figure this will hopefully prolong our amazingly perfect streak of somehow never having walked in on you two doing something we don't want to see. I swear, you two are like rabbits."

"Green's not a good color on you, Sam."

Just then the doors opened, and I realized that we were on a different floor. This floor had previously been Thor's and was two below the common floor and just above Clint and Natasha. Bruce would be directly above us, as we'd originally been placed in the order we'd agreed to live in the Tower. I looked around the small entryway as we stepped out.

"Go ahead and pick her up and carry her over the threshold as you seem to like to do in every new place," Bruce teased with a nudge.

I just grinned and did as he suggested, moving over so Stephanie could use her hand on the scanner.

"Welcome home, Captain and Mrs. Rogers," JARVIS said in a bland voice.

"Shit, Tony, you never told JARVIS?!" exclaimed Steph. "I'm sorry, JARVIS, I thought Tony told you and you were just still calling me Miss Plum because you were playing along. Does it make you feel any better to know that you were the only one who ever knew we were engaged?"

I successfully managed to hold back my laugh at the fact that Stephanie was apologizing to

and pleading with an AI, and carried her into our new apartment. Just barely inside the door, I stopped short and we both gaped. Slowly, I lowered Steph to the ground and grabbed her hand as we wandered in.

I looked up and realized that I was wrong, Bruce wasn't directly above us anymore, as our apartment was now two stories, just like Clint & Natasha's.

"Right, so, first of all, the reason we moved you around floors is because, and we'll show you in a minute, you now have a direct staircase to the common floor. Meaning, if some kind of attack happens at the tower again and Steph happens to be on the common floor, she isn't separated from the panic room by an elevator ride which would be questionable or a bunch of stairs. We also moved the gym and training floor just below Clint and Natasha to keep that one fairly close as well."

"We turned your room in our apartment into a mini-panic room in case you can't get all the way to your floor for some reason, Steph. Or if you have reason to believe your floor is compromised. Plus, if you go through our floor, you can be armed to the teeth on your way into your apartment." added Clint.

Pepper spoke up and said, "If we're both in our safe rooms, Steph, and JARVIS can verify that, a panel will open on one side to allow us to go between the two on a staircase. That way we don't have to be in there alone unless absolutely necessary."

"All windows and exterior glass in your apartment are, actually, not glass. They're a proprietary Stark Industries composite that has been thoroughly tested, and are one-way so no one can see in. JARVIS can use them as screens, and they should be resistant to the type of device used to break into Steph's last apartment as well as every other technique we can think of," Tony boasted.

"They even stood up against the Other Guy," Bruce said calmly.

Steph let out a gasp and hugged Bruce, while I gave my nod of appreciation. He didn't like testing with or transforming into The Hulk if he could do anything to avoid it.

"Alright, I think that's most of the boring stuff. Let's give you the tour! As you know, or should know, there's in-house chefs 24-7 who will bring you pretty much whatever you want if you let JARVIS know. That being said, here's a kitchen in case one of you magically learns to cook or you need to store your takeout leftovers, that you insist on buying even though our stuff is better, in the fridge."

"I actually do forget that," I said, sheepishly. While neither of us cooked much, I had to admire the setup. All the cabinets and tall things were against the wall, with just a short island framing the rest of the kitchen in, so it really opened up to and allowed full range of sight into the over-sized living room. Our new living room had plenty of comfortable seating arranged into TV viewing areas as well as conversation areas. Knowing us as they did, I was pleased to see that Pepper and Tony had actually decided to forgo an actual dining room. If we wanted to, we could sit several people at the backside of the kitchen island as a breakfast bar. Otherwise, there were plenty of coffee tables with the couches and chairs which we could also use.

The living room was open to the floor above it, allowing the windows to be twice as tall and the room absolutely glowed with natural light. As such, one corner of the room, next to the windows, contained all of my art supplies. I walked over to them, running my fingers over them and the set-up, and noticed that Tony had refilled and upgraded some of the supplies. "thanks, Tony."

"There is still a separate study space for you in case you're feeling the need for some quiet drawing time or reflecting time or something."

Stephanie hummed happily hearing that, and I was impressed by how well she'd already figured me out. There would undoubtedly be some times, especially after particularly bad missions, when I'd welcome that solitude, but Steph hadn't had to see that yet. We were led over to said study, which was very nice and comfortable. I was pleased to see that it connected to Steph's office with a door that either of us could put a red indicator light on if we didn't want to be interrupted. When the light was on, we could make it blink on the other side, unobtrusively to let the other person know we'd like to talk to them when they were available again.

Steph's office was a lot like her office at Rangeman. There was a comfortable, lounge-type seating area with a couple couches, and she had a desk for Bucky in addition to her own desk. Both had computers on them which Tony reassured her had Hector-approved secure connection to the Rangeman network. One wall was set up with a floor to ceiling screen at the end of a medium-sized conference table so that she, and a few extra people, could have video conference calls from her home office that would place her "in" the Rangeman conference room. Each of us had a private half-bathroom attached, much as the living room had.

The rest of the tour was pretty standard. There was a game room in addition to four guest bedrooms, with attached bath for each. And then there was our hugely decadent master suite. It had a bathroom that Steph seemed torn over which to drool over more, the over-sized tub or the shower, as well as a closet that had brought tears to Steph's eyes. Especially when she saw her upgraded, aka larger, shoe safe. I rolled my eyes at that, and she just pinched me while Tony said, "hey, we've seen her shopping now. Trust me, this closet was 100% Pepper designed and approved."

Finally, we ended the tour in the safe room, and sat and had a lengthy conversation about scenarios with JARVIS and the entire team. In the end we felt comfortable that we had a system that would keep Stephanie and Pepper safe, but also allow us (as well as Ranger or Tank) access to them once the danger had passed or if we needed to move them. Tour complete, we went upstairs to the common floor, and I was pleased to see it connected through a similar entry as the elevator- we'd be able to keep others from entering if we enacted privacy mode and/or didn't want visitors for some reason.

_**Steph's POV**_

Holy house batman! Because, although it was crammed into a skyscraper and therefore didn't have things like a yard and a picket fence, Pepper and Tony had basically given us a large house. And the fact that it was crammed inside of a skyscraper and that skyscraper was Avengers Tower suited us perfectly. I was so excited, and while I'd meant it when I said that we enjoyed Bucky and Sam being with us, I was also glad that they would be nearby but in their own apartments from now on.

I was so touched not only by the amount of time, effort, and money Pepper and Tony must have put into this renovation, but also the fact that almost everyone else had allowed their lives to be uprooted and rearranged to such a degree for our benefit. It was just one of the ways they continually showed us how much they cared and were happy for us. As crazy and scary as it seemed things might be over the course of at least the next few days, it was comforting to know that these people were standing behind us and offering us their support.

We went upstairs to have a late dinner, and settled along the couches with our plates of food. We decided to play another round of catching up with the media storm, and I was a little surprised by what I saw. It seemed a lot of the commentators had shifted, becoming more sympathetic after my mother's appearance. We'd yet to come across a segment, though I was sure we would at some point, where anyone thought it was okay for a mother to speak about her daughter the way mine had. And certainly not publicly! Apparently we'd looked happy enough in our brief walk through the small airport and on the couple of pictures that had been released from Ellen's interview that most were willing to agree that we at least appeared to be happily married. I felt pretty confident that when the interview aired, it would make that fact crystal clear to the doubters.

Deciding there was nothing more to be done until tomorrow at the earliest, but maybe the day after, I made a show of stretching and feigning a yawn. Ever since our brief tease in the airplane earlier all I'd really wanted was some quality alone time with Steve.

I noticed Natasha roll her eyes and she just smirked when Tony said, "you don't have to pretend to be tired, Steph, you can tell us you want to go screw your new husband's brains out in your new apartment. We'll understand."

Steve just let out a strangled noise, so I pulled him up and just said, "good night everybody" before pushing Steve down the stairs to our apartment.

"Privacy mode please, JARVIS," I said before the door had even shut behind us.

"Yes, Mrs. Rogers, good night." came the reply.

"Gonna have to figure out how to make that name official tomorrow," I whispered into Steve's ear before giving it a lick that made him shiver. "Wanna practice in case we have to prove it?"

Steve laughed, which was my intention. Taking advantage of his momentary distraction, I slipped past him, giving his ass a pat, and took off down the hall toward our bedroom. I looked over my shoulder at him and saw him lounging against the wall, watching me, clearly giving me a head start. I would be offended, but he was definitely faster than me, and I was still in heels, so I could use the head start. Breaking eye contact when I was almost even with the bedroom door, I put on a burst of speed as I heard Steve start chasing me.

I used the extra couple of seconds Steve had given me to pull my dress off over my head and jump onto our bed, so that when Steve made it to the room I was stretched out on the bed, in nothing but lingerie and my heels. He let out a hoarse groan, and I whimpered in response licking my lips. Sliding my hand into my panties and the other up to undo the front clasp of my bra, I watched him stalking toward me while pulling his shirt off over his head. His eyes darkened when he noticed my hands moving in a circular motion under my panties and his breathing became a little bit more ragged. He quickly ditched the rest of his clothes and crawled toward me on the bed, eyes trying their best to devour me. He stopped long enough to grab a condom out of the bedside table and slide it on.

I widened my legs so that he could crawl between them and when he finally knelt in front of me, he pulled my hand out from my panties and licked my fingers clean. I whined at him and said, "Steve, I need you so much. Get in me, right now."

I let out a slightly shocked gasp when he took me at my word, ripped my panties clean off my body, and thrust into me with no preamble. A few thrusts later, he reached down and pulled me up so I leaned against him. His head dropped down as he moved, pulling me into an absolutely filthy kiss. Sitting back on his heels, he held onto my hips and thrust up into me, pushing me over the edge quickly. He gentled his thrusts until I calmed down a little then pulled out of me. "That's our bedroom," he said before lifting me up and carrying me into the bathroom. Once there, he pushed me gently over the bathroom counter and thrust into me from behind.

I was still sensitive from my first orgasm, and it made each thrust have just a little extra edge to it. He found the perfect angle to stroke my gspot on each push inward and I started shaking. When his hand took mine and guided it back to my clit, he encouraged me to rub myself. It didn't take long for me to fall over the edge this time dragging him with me.

I was completely limp in front of Steve as he picked me up and gently carried me into the shower, helping me clean up a little. Before too long, hands started wandering and our kisses started up again, getting deeper and deeper. When I reached down to stroke him, Steve stopped me. He turned off the shower and said, "nope. we've crossed the bathroom off the list already," as he quickly dried us both off. "What's it going to be next?"

I decided on the living room, wanting to look out over the city while we made love, but I got a little too handsy on the way and it turned into the stairs _then_ the living room. Sometime around daw, we had crossed off both of our offices and I declared that there were too many rooms in this apartment and we'd have to work on the others after we got some sleep. Steve managed to drag me upstairs and back to our bed before I fell completely asleep, snuggled in to his side.

When I woke up, it was in not the bedroom I fell asleep in and it was just as Steve slid into me. While I was usually grumpy and slow to wake up, I got on board, slipping my legs up around his waist. We set a slow pace, whispering words of love and affirmation back and forth as we rode the tide together up and over the peak. As we came back down, I held wrapped myself around Steve and only let go long enough for him to pull out of me and deal with the condom.

"Good morning," he whispered, wrapping himself back around me.

"Mmmm, good morning." I looked around and noticed his sketchpad laying on the floor next to the bed. "How long have we been in this room?"

"When you didn't wake up when I carried you in here, like I was expecting, I figured you could use a little more sleep. So I let you sleep, and entertained myself while I waited."

"Can I see?"

"Sure" he said, reaching out to snag the sketchbook before handing it to me and snuggling up to my back.

It had been a couple weeks since I had been through one of his books, and this one was completely new to me, so I started at the beginning. I'd made it maybe three pages in when I laughed, and rolled over so I was facing him. "I'm sensing a theme here," I teased.

"Yeah, this is my private sketchbook, not for anyone else's eyes," he confirmed.

I rolled onto my belly and kicked my feet up behind me, laughing when he mirrored my pose next to me. I leaned my head over against his shoulder as I started flipping through the sketchbook. The beginning had sketches that involved me and the lingerie set I'd worn the first night, some with the shield some without. There was a fair amount of fantasy and situations I hadn't been in. I mentally tacked a "yet" on for some of them. Like the one with me naked except for some awesome boots on his motorcycle with his shield on my back. If I could find a private garage for us, I'd happily make that one a reality.

Not all of them were sexual, some were just love through and through. Each made me feel treasured in its own way. As I continued flipping through, I was startled by one in particular. I paused at it for several minutes, blown away and tracing my fingers over it. It was dated the day we'd gotten engaged, which was also the first day we'd talked about having kids in our future. It was a sketch similar to many others, with me sleeping naked in our bed, sheets tangled around me haphazardly, but there was a very noticeable difference in that I had a pronounced baby bump. It was so realistic that I actually had to slide my hand down and make sure it wasn't really there. When I did, rolling onto my side again, Steve's big hand slid down over mine. I sighed and said, "soon, okay. I think I just want to be selfish and have you all to myself a little longer."

"Whenever you want, Honey."

On the very next page was a drawing of me, nursing a baby who was swaddled up so tight you couldn't really see it. I felt Steve shrug behind me, "couldn't really figure what our baby would look like. I tried drawing it that way first, but none of them felt quite right."

I murmured in agreement because, really, I had no idea what our children would look like either. All I knew was knowing he wanted them, and being able to see how much clearly shine through these drawings, I felt my mental timeline move up a little more.

"Coffee?"

"Started it just before I woke you up," Steve replied, lifting me off the bed and carrying me into the kitchen where, it turned out the countertops were a marvelous height for breaking in the kitchen. We were making our way through the apartment at quite an impressive rate, anyone would agree.

By the time we'd cleaned up in the shower and gotten ourselves put together for the day, it was 1pm, so we went up to the common floor to see about scrounging up some lunch.

"I was wondering if we'd see you two today," Clint commented without looking up from where he was cleaning a gun.

I eyed the gun and said, "you know, we're already married, it's a little late for the shovel talk, Clint."

Steve barked out a laugh next to me and Clint smiled at me, "it's never too late to give the shovel talk, and who's to say I didn't already give it? Because if I gave it to anyone, it'd be to Steve, not you."

I looked over at Steve in surprise and he inclined his head so I whipped my gaze back over to Clint and said, "you didn't!" when he only stared at me silently I said, "oh, come on! You knew him first! Plus, I'm sure every Rangeman gave him one too."

"If it makes you feel any better, Natasha's was way scarier," Steve said.

I gasped and smacked him on the arm saying, "no, that doesn't make me feel better! How many of these did you get?! I mean, you're Captain America, it's not like even _one_ was necessary!"

"Lost count. Between your dad, Grandma Mazur, my entire team including Bucky, and all the Rangemen, it was a lot of talks. For the record, I'd place Grandma Mazur's in line as second most frightening with Ranger running a close third. Does she really have a shotgun?"

I shrugged, "depends on whether or not my mother has taken it away from her recently. Or I suppose that's my father's job now, and he probably doesn't care, so I'd go with yes."

When he paled at that news, I just patted his cheek and said, "don't worry, you'll never give her cause. Plus, she likes you, so I don't think she'd actually follow through."

Tony walked in just then and said, "there you two are, wonder what kept you two abed for so long. I trust the new apartment is to your liking?"

Steve looked like he was going to give Tony a hard time about the comment, so I just pinched him in the side and then released him to give Tony a hug and said, "yes, it is fabulous. We love it. Thank you again."

We spent the rest of the day on the common floor, relaxing with our friends. When four o'clock rolled around, we settled in and watched the Ellen Show, pleased with how it turned out. A couple hours later, we watched as the news commentators seemed to slowly turn into our favor after the interview aired. After dinner, I called Ellen and thanked her for having us on her show and her portrayal of us before inviting her to drop by if ever she was in New York.

When the following Monday morning, came around, Bucky and I drove to the office with little excitement along the way. Each day that passed, the crowds didn't die down, but I became more used to and accepting of their presence. On Saturday morning, after a late wake-up with Steve, I lay curled up with my head on his chest and said, "I want to go out today."

Steve stilled, before resuming stroking my back. "Okay, where do you want to go? It is quite cold out, you know."

"Mmmm, you'll help me stay warm though, right?"

"Of course."

We gathered the rest of the team and decided we would go to lunch at Waldy's, a pizza place I enjoyed. As we exited the Tower, Steve held me close to his side when the screaming and the camera flashes started. At my insistence, we stopped and spoke to the fans along the way while refusing to respond to or acknowledge the paparazzi. Eating lunch out in the open in a restaurant, even if we were constantly vigilant, eased something inside of me that had been feeling locked away and confined all week. With sheer delight, I managed to convince the others to go on a hay ride in the park. Settled under a blanket with Steve's arm around me and hot chocolate in my belly, I drifted off to sleep.

_**Steve's POV**_

Two weeks had passed since our hayride, and we were going to need to get ready for the party that Tony had insisted on throwing us since we didn't have a wedding and reception for everyone to attend. Over the course of those couple weeks, I'd noticed a few things about Stephanie that were new and different. While she'd been in the hospital post-surgery, she hadn't been able to take her medication that she usually took- her birth control pills. Once she'd been released, she'd been waiting to start them until she'd gotten her period, which she had, but with so much going on with the wedding and holidays, she'd forgotten to start the medicine and had put it off another month. I hadn't been overly concerned because we still used condoms, and even if she did get pregnant, I'd be happy about it.

The night we'd gone through my sketchbook, and she'd come across the drawings I'd done of her pregnant, I'd been unsure of how she'd react. Pleasantly, it hadn't freaked her out, but instead she'd accepted it and told me we'd get there soon. I'd noticed some changes in her over the past couple weeks. While sketching her as she slept naked, I'd noticed the area around her nipples was darker- I needed a different colored pencil for those than usual. When I'd snuck my hand out to investigate, she'd unconsciously shied away from my touch, as though her breasts were tender or sore. And she'd been sleeping a lot. Starting during the hayride, I'd notice that she would drift off or nap even more than usual, and she slept longer at nights.

I'd done a little research, swearing JARVIS to secrecy and getting his help staying covert with it, and I was reasonably sure that Steph was pregnant. And during my research I figured she was about four or five weeks along, depending on how early we'd conceived. So all in all, we were approaching the time when people tended to figure these things out for themselves. Sure, I'd had to do some fancy stepping from time to time to make sure she didn't, for instance, have an extra drink, though I still thought people were way more intense than they needed to be. There were whole hosts of things that people restricted these days, that they didn't used to back in my time. I kind of wondered what effect that extra stress had and how much that was really better than all the stuff pregnant women worried about limiting their exposure to.

Regardless, that would be Stephanie's decision in the long run, but I figured if she hadn't discovered it yet, I could enjoy waiting to see how long it took her to figure out, and how she did so. As long as I kept her from doing anything that she would seriously regret down the road. With that in mind, I reached over and gently shook Stephanie awake. I had a cup of coffee in hand that I'd brewed for her- mixing a little bit of regular in with mostly decaf. Her eyes opened and she looked at me, smiling. I dropped a kiss on her mouth before handing her the coffee. She took a big whiff of it then frowned. I knew it wasn't the mix, because I'd been using it on her for the past two weeks without complaint. Then she dashed off to the bathroom and I found her hovering over the toilet with a hand over her mouth.

"You okay, Sweetheart?"

"Yeah, I think I'm okay. I thought I was going to throw up, but it seems to be okay now. I'm just a little nauseous now. Weird. What did you put in the coffee?"

"Nothing unusual, Steph. Want me to make you some tea instead?"

"Sure, that'd be great, thanks."

_**Ranger's POV**_

I was standing in the garage of Rangeman Manhattan, waiting for my men to show up so we could drive over to Avenger's Tower for Stephanie and Steve's wedding party. As today approached, my men became more and more reserved around me. To the point where they were now tiptoeing around me the way they had when they'd each found out about the marriage. I'd had to call them in as soon as they started jumping around me, terrified that they'd accidentally say something to tip me off, and let them know that I was aware of the marriage and happy for Stephanie and Steve. As though they could possibly find out about something like that before me!

It is true that I was a little bit sad to know that Stephanie was now out of my romantic life for good, but I'd always known we wouldn't work together. Sometimes she'd made me long for that, to long for home, but I knew it would destroy her to find that with me and I knew I couldn't give it to her anyway. So I'd encouraged her to move on, and I was truly happy that she'd done so.

As happy as I was, I was also scared. I needed Stephanie to always be in my life, and as she became more and more a part of the Avengers, she needed us less and less. Hiring Bucky on to be her permanent partner seemed like a great way to ensure her continued presence. I'd made sure she had an office that was big enough she could have any of her Avengers family over. And it was working well, actually better than I had planned. With Bucky being with her, they'd stopped hovering around the office quite as much. Which was giving the rest of us space to spend time with her again, and it was doing wonders for office morale.

I was also scared of her new found celebrity. We all were. Scared that someone who was already so prone to picking up stalkers and crazies was now so much in the public eye. It seemed like it would only be a matter of time before someone new came after her. And with the heightened publicity, she'd be a lot easier to stalk. So Hector and I were working with Tony and JARVIS to track any digital hacking and stalking concerns. And I was working with Ram, Tank, Bucky, Clint, and Natasha on physical surveillance concerns.

The men started walking into the garage at a slow pace, somber looks on their faces.

"Guys! I'm happy for Stephanie and Steve! Why do you look like you're going to an execution? I know you're happy for her too! I swear, I'm not upset about losing her. I already gave her up. I just want to see her be happy, and you can tell, clear as day, that Steve makes her happy. They are going to have a joyful life together, and hopefully make us all uncles sometime soon, right?!" That got cheers so I added, "Now load up and get your party faces on! Let's show Steph how much we support her!"

When we arrived at the Tower, I was pleased to see that we didn't have to wait around for security to clear us this time. As the elevator opened, we walked out into a foyer on a floor we hadn't been on before, but the "Rogers" above the door let us know we were in the correct place.

Walking in, I caught Steph up in a hug indicating back with my thumb to the door, I asked, "you get that name fixed up yet?"

"Yes, indeed! You're looking at Stephanie Michelle Rogers!"

"Good girl!"

When Stephanie studied my face, I let all my happiness for her shine through until she saw it and believed it. She gave me an extra hug, eyes watering a little before moving along to the rest of the guys.

Steve walked up to me as she walked away and extended his hand toward me. I took it in a handshake and offered my congratulations again. I expressed my concern that we hadn't been met by security, and Steve explained that Tank and I now had access to their apartment, and to the panic room if we needed to get her out. We ran through some protocols and scenarios briefly, and came to an agreement about what our actions would be if Tank or I had to get her out of that room and Steve wasn't around. I promised to fill Tank in, and let him know if we had any more questions.

As I watched Steph flit about the room, I said to Steve, "All week long, I've been trying to figure it out. There's something different about her."

Pepper walked in just then, and I noticed Stephanie giving her a hug, but keeping her top half held a little away from Pepper. Certainly more so than usual. Lester walked up to her and held out a beer to her. I studied curiously as she took the beer and put it up to her lips only to wrinkle her nose, check the label, then hand the beer back to Lester.

"Beautiful, what's wrong. That's your favorite winter beer!"

"I don't know, Les, my stomach was a little off this morning. Maybe I'll just stick to soda for now."

I looked over at Steve and realized by the proud grin on his face that he knew what I had figured out and was pleased about it. I couldn't blame him about that, it wasn't even mine and I was ecstatic.

_**Steph's POV**_

Ranger had a weird look on his face as he was watching me, one that I'd noticed a few times over the last few days. I was watching him watch me, when I realized that Steve was watching both of us highly amused. Suddenly Ranger snapped his fingers and pointed at me, "you're pregnant!"

I gaped at him for a few minutes, and then I saw his gaze shift over to Steve who was laughing and nodding his head and I shrieked, "WHAT?!"

Stunned silence fell across everyone else in the room while my gaze just kept darting back and forth between them making incoherent high pitched noises, "what? how? why would you think? why would you say? I'm sorry, what?!" I shrieked again. Then I turned to Steve who was full-on belly laughing with tears rolling down his face, "and why would you agree?!"

"Sweetheart, I'm certain you're pregnant."

That set off another round of incoherence from me, and by the time I'd quieted down, Bruce was back from wherever the heck he'd run off to. Then he handed me a box and I gaped at it. It was a pregnancy test, so I guess he'd gone down to the medical floor. Everyone was completely quiet as I stared at the test for probably a good ten minutes, just running things through my head.

Since the beginning, we'd been so careful, double protection careful. Except for when we'd switched to condoms only after the hospitalization, but we used those condoms religiously. Often, sure, but religiously. And I mean, first of all, there was my period. No, wait… when was my last period? I'd thought it was starting a couple weeks ago, but that had just turned out to be spotting... yeah, I was definitely late. But, I didn't feel any different, did I? Sure, I'd been nauseous a bit here and there over the last few weeks, but who didn't get nauseous sometimes? And I'd been really, really tired for like a month now, but I was pretty sure I was just fighting off a super resilient bug that didn't want to give up the fight. That didn't mean I was pregnant though. I looked from the box to Steve and he looked so absolutely certain that I just shrugged and said, "fine, I'll go take this, but don't be surprised or disappointed when it is negative."

With that I sauntered off to the bathroom, snagging the specimen cup that Bruce also held along the way. I peed in the cup and stuck the stick in it, following the directions, and told JARVIS to tell me when it had been three minutes. Then to amuse myself, I pulled out my phone and started browsing all of the media sites, looking for what they were saying about me this week. I always found the pictures of me, spotted out doing something that weren't actually of me. I had a feeling there was at least one photoshopper for each company who was bringing in a big paycheck. Startled out of my thoughts by JARVIS announcing that three minutes had passed, I walked over to the pregnancy test.

Until the moment that I saw two pink lines on the test results window, I hadn't even _really_, seriously considered the fact that Steve and Ranger were correct. Opening the bathroom door a crack, I stuck my head out and yelled, "STEVEN GRANT ROGERS!"

Steve came jogging up the stairs, and when I pulled myself fully back into the bathroom, he slid in behind me and said, "so, what'd it say?" with a huge grin on his face.

I just gestured behind me toward the sink as Steve walked over and looked at the stick next to the instructions and saw that the result was positive. He spun back around and looked relieved when he saw a smile on my face as well.

"Just couldn't keep your super sperm to yourself, could you? We should have realized that just condoms wouldn't be enough!" The last came out on a laugh as Steve pulled me into a hug and gently spun me around before pulling me into a kiss. Letting me go, he dropped down to his knees and pressed kisses to my tummy whispering a hello to our child. Holy crap, I'm going to be a Mom, how scary is that?!

Steve laughed and stood up, pulling me into another hug. "It isn't scary, Sweetheart, it's amazing! I know you weren't quite ready yet; is this okay?"

"Yes, I was planning to talk to you about me just throwing away that pill pack and us not buying any more condoms. You know, seeing what would happen." I gave him a couple more quick kisses then pulled back and asked, "how did you know? I didn't even know!"

"Well, you've been sleeping a lot. And you were nauseous a few times; this morning really sealed the deal on that, by the way. And then there were these," he said, sliding his hands up to my breasts gently, running his thumbs across my nipples. They felt outrageously sensitive and I hissed out a breath. "Yeah, and they're darker, too."

At that I whipped off my shirt and pulled off my bra looking down. "They're darker?"

"Just a little, Honey. I noticed because the colored pencil I usually use to draw you wasn't quite right anymore. That's when I started searching the internet and figured out that you were pregnant."

His hands started wandering then, and I pulled him closer to me. "There's a party full of people waiting for us. Oh man, they heard what Ranger said! What're we going to tell them?"

"The truth?" Steve said, nibbling on my neck. "And they'll understand that we felt the need to celebrate, you just need to be quiet, and we should try to be fast…"

Twenty minutes later, I was restoring order to my clothes. "Okay, that was fun, but we still need to figure out what we're going to say!"

"Can't we just say, 'Guess what, Steph's pregnant!' and then get on with the more public celebration?"

"But what if it is a false positive?! Or what if I lose the baby? It's too soon to tell people!"

"Well, we'll get you another test to rule out the likelihood of a false positive. And Steph, if you lose the baby, then they'll be here to help us get through that. We'll need to at least tell those who have anything to do with your security because they need to know. So might as well tell them all. They'll keep the secret for us."

I thought about that for a few minutes then nodded my head slowly.

"Okay, first things first," so saying, he stuck his head out, "NATASHA!"

A few seconds later, Natasha slipped into the bathroom. She raised her eyebrow when she looked over my rumpled appearance and sex glow, but calmly walked over to the counter and read the pregnancy test results. Probably the biggest smile I'd ever seen spread across her face and she pulled me into a hug.

"Congratulations, guys. Why am I here though?"

"As soon as we walk out there, they're going to want to know what's going on."

"So?"

"What if it is a false positive?"

"I'm on it," she replied before disappearing again.

"A baby, Steve." I said, breathless. He cuddled me back into him and just rocked me back and forth, rubbing his hands on my back.

When Natasha came back in, she handed me five different boxes, all different brands. She started to leave, and I just said, "it's okay, you can stay." So saying, I handed her two of the boxes, gave three to Steve, and we started opening and dipping.

"You know, Natalie's a good name," said Natasha, with a smile on her face.

With a smile, I said, "there are lots of good names, and it could be a boy."

"Nathan?"

"Why don't we see how these tests all go," negotiated Steve, "and then Stephanie and I will have a few months to discuss names… and godparents… you know, lots of things to discuss."

Natasha's jaw dropped at the implication there, and I just gave her hand a squeeze. As the different timers for the different tests went off, each provided a positive result. Natasha slid back out to give us a few more minutes to ourselves before we walked back out into the apartment.

The others were trying to get Natasha to talk to them, and she just sat there stoically unflinching. She really is a kick ass best friend!

As soon as we walked in, smiles wide on our faces, Tony looked up and said, "Yeah?"

I looked at Steve and he nodded to me, giving me a supportive rub on my back. I smiled even bigger and nodded as everyone let out whoops of delight and swarmed us with hugs of congratulations.

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**A/N:** You all are the best! Thanks for your continued reviews and encouragement. I hope you enjoy this newest chapter.


	21. Chapter 21

**Disclaimer: **The characters and things you recognize in this story don't belong to me. They belong to Marvel and Janet Evanovich. I'm pretty sure you'll recognize which is which. Mistakes belong to me.

**A/N:** A very happy birthday to MomofPhoenix. Thanks for the gentle nudge. I'm so glad that the bronchitis relaxed enough to allow me to get this birthday chapter out for you!

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Chapter 21

_**Steph's POV**_

"So, what does this mean?" asked Lester.

There was silence for a few beats as I, along with everyone else in the room, looked at him funny. He couldn't possibly mean what it sounded like he meant.

"Well, when a man loves a woman…" started Tony.

"Ha ha ha. I know what Steph being pregnant means. But what does it mean considering that Captain Rogers is... all super soldier?"

Ah, you know, that is actually a really good question. Maybe I should have asked that before I let any super sperm anywhere near me. Oh well, too late now. Choked sounds mixed in with some chuckles and a gasp from Pepper surrounded me. Rats. I wonder if that was actually going to get worse when I was pregnant, like some weird side effect or something.

"Well, I can't say anything about pregnancy's ability to make people who already have the issue any less likely to be able to prevent speaking their thoughts. Though the past minute seems to indicate that this might be a very real concern. And they say 'Pregnancy Brain' is a thing." started Bruce. Double rats! "And as far as the super serum is concerned. I couldn't say for certain."

"But you have some theories," I asked, reading between the lines.

"Are you sure you wouldn't rather have this conversation in private?"

I looked at Steve who shrugged then pulled me to him and kept his arms around me for support. "No, it's fine."

"Like I said, I'm not really sure. As far as I can tell from SHIELD's records and my previous research on the subject, Steve was injected with serum in his muscular tissue which then propagated and taken up by his DNA, so it is in every cell of his body now. The Vita-Rays caused him to grow, but again, we're fairly certain that was through a change in his DNA at the cellular level. So it is fully matured super soldier DNA in his body now. I'm not certain, but I would guess that his 50% of the DNA in that baby would propagate the serum's effect that same way into all of the baby's cells."

"So… super baby?" asked Natasha.

"I think that's the most likely scenario. Only time will tell. I'm fairly certain that's how it will go though, so I'm more curious to see if there's any effect on Stephanie, actually."

Steve's body tensed up behind me and my jaw dropped open. "Excuse me? Run that by me again?"

"Fetomaternal microchimerism, or fetal cell microchimerism." Bruce said, as though that clarified anything, and I noticed Dr. Chastain nodding her head in agreement.

"In English, please," ground out Steve.

"As the fetus develops, the mother and baby exchange various cells. There's usually no direct blood to blood exchange, but there are lots of other cells that mother and baby exchange. Primarily the fetus passes them to the mother through the placenta. Those cells are then actually taken up by the mother and establish their own cell lineages within the mother. They've been found decades later in a mother's blood, bone marrow, skin, liver, brain and even injury sites. And since, like I said, your initial injection was in muscular tissue anyway, not blood..."

"So what you're saying is that the baby is going to give me some of its cells and you have no idea what that will do to me?"

"Correct. It very well might not do anything. I can give you some papers to read on the subject, if you'd like." I just grunted because I certainly wouldn't understand them, but Steve nodded his head eagerly.

"But you think it is going to do something to me?"

"I think there's a decent chance it will. Like I said, the serum started just being injected into Steve intramuscularly. I think it spread immediately and the vita-ray exposure changed it, or matured it, but it is there in his cells full strength now. That's why when his cells die and are replaced by new ones, there's no weakening of the effects on him. What I'm saying is that I don't think that the fact that you or the baby haven't been exposed to the rays will matter. Just having your bodies take up the cells with the matured serum in them will possibly be enough."

"Huh." That was really all I could say for a few minutes; I mean, what do you even say to that? "But it might not happen, right?"

Bruce shrugged, "might not."

"Dr. Chastain?"

"I've never studied the serum, so I couldn't say. If the process went the way Dr. Banner says-"

"It did, as far as I remember and understood," interrupted Steve.

"Then I'd say it is a distinct possibility. Fetal cell microchimerism is a very real thing that we in the medical field are only slowly beginning to understand. It's believed that at least 50-75% of women carry on fetal cells after pregnancy."

"When would this start happening?" I asked. "I feel the same."

"Well, in humans, fetal cells have been found in maternal blood as early as four weeks and five days after conception. Both fetal cells and DNA are consistently detected by around seven weeks. Sometime after that, we'd expect the change to happen, probably when some unknown threshold is reached as far as the number of cells from the baby that are in your system is concerned."

I felt my knees go wobbly and all the blood rush out of my head. Steve snagged me around the waist and rushed me into a chair, pushing my head between my legs and telling me calmly to breathe. When I finally started feeling better, I slowly eased myself up and looked Steve in the eye and said, "if that happens to me… well… did it hurt?"

Steve's eyes darted away as he said, "no?"

Natasha rolled her eyes and I just sighed, "seriously, the worst liar ever. Couldn't you have tried a little harder just so I could pretend?"

Bucky cut in, "if it helps any, I'm sure childbirth will hurt more!"

I spun to look at him, disbelief on my face. "That doesn't help! Plus, they make totally awesome drugs for that!"

Tony tried to cover up a laugh with a cough before adding, "Not if you wind up with Cap's metabolism."

"Aww, man! That's not fair!" I whined, turning wide eyes on Steve.

He just winced and gave me an apologetic grin, "I'm sorry! I didn't know. But hey, we get a baby out of the deal. Yay! And just think of all the doughnuts you can eat without worrying about it if you get my metabolism."

Hmm, that is true. I frequently told him he didn't take enough advantage of that fact, though I wasn't sure it was worth all the pain. And whatever else went with it. Plus, none of my clothes would fit. Of course they weren't going to fit pretty soon anyway. And oh god, what if my foot size changed? Then none of my shoes would fit.

"Are you complaining about the fact that you'd need to go shopping?" asked Steve incredulously.

I shook my head, focusing back on what was happening around me instead of the rabbit hole my thoughts had gone down. "I'm sorry, what?"

Everyone was laughing, so I just shrugged. "Alright, not that this hasn't been fun to try to process so much in like an hour here, especially since I now can't drink. Double damn! If I get your metabolism, I won't be able to get drunk anymore!" I said, pointing an accusing finger at Steve. "Anyway, I'm going to check into Denial Land for a bit, so let's talk about something else. Have you Rangemen seen my new office yet?" I asked while leading the group off in that direction.

The party continued for a few more hours before the Rangemen, excluding Ranger and Tank, headed out. Once they had, we all settled down on the common floor together. Steve sat down in one of the armchairs, and I snuggled into his lap. The others were making polite conversation while Steve and I had a whispered exchange of our own.

"How are you feeling? Still stuck in Denial Land? Because, I'm really sorry, Steph. No one ever said anything to me about the fact that the serum might affect _you_, and if I'd know, I never would have…"

"You never would have what? Had sex with me? I think we know that's not true. Wanted kids of you own? Again, not true. You wanted to have kids, I want to have your kids. _If_ this has some kind of effect on me, other than regular pregnancy crap, which I've been told is often no fun on its own, then we'll deal with it when it happens. But Steve, even knowing, I still would have agreed to try because I want this. Just as much as I know you do. I'd do anything for you."

"God, Steph, I'd do anything for you too."

"Hey, remember how terrible of a patient I am when I'm injured?"

"You're not terrible. You just get… restless."

"And grumpy. And a bit out of control or ridiculous because of those things. Well, I just hope you're ready for pregnancy hormones, mister, because they'll probably make me a whole different kind of crazy."

"You're not crazy, Steph. And if you can deal with being pregnant, then I'm certainly not going to hold occasional mood swing against you. Or any of them, even if they become more than occasional, okay? You just make sure you always tell me what I can do to help you."

"Okay. I already know that you're going to feel the need to coddle me and go crazy-protective of me. Let's make a couple of promises to each other now. I promise to TRY be reasonable and to TRY to let you do so as much as you need to do to make you feel comfortable that the baby and I are both safe."

I could feel Steve nodding behind me, and he pressed a kiss behind my ear, "and I promise to TRY talk your security and any changes I feel are necessary through with you beforehand or as soon as possible if they reflect immediate danger. And I will TRY not to be reasonable about all of it and not smother you or go overboard unnecessarily."

"We'll try our best. Without a doubt, we're going to screw it up at some point and fight about it, but we'll try." I twisted around and gave him a kiss and said, "it's a deal."

"I'm sure you're right. And yes, it's a deal," he pressed another kiss, this time to the top of my head, and wrapped his arms around my waist. We both tuned back into the conversation happening around us, noticing various amused looks on the other's faces.

I took a deep breath at the first natural pause in the conversation, "well, obviously I'm not going to be going out in the field for the next nine plus months, call it a year to be safe, so all of our previous field security conversations are relatively null and void. Bucky, my offer still stands if you want to go into the field and find another partner while I'm out, I understand. Let's talk about the rest of it though. I'm assuming you all want to make some changes to my regular day-to-day security now."

"I meant what I said, Doll. If you're at a desk, I'm at a desk," said Bucky. "We'll both go crazy if all we do is searches though, so maybe it is time that we start talking more seriously about some of those alternatives we mentioned before."

"Agreed," Ranger, Tank, and I all replied.

"Jinx!" I shouted, pointing my finger back and forth between Ranger and Tank, "you owe me a donut! Awesome!"

There was a smattering of surprised laughter throughout the room before Sam just said, "it's not like you're going to have a difficult time getting anything you want out of any of the rest of us for the foreseeable future."

I clapped my hands with delight, "it's like I have special powers!"

Steve's chest rumbled with laughter against my back and he said, "I don't know, just try to only use them for good."

I paused for a beat as though I was thinking about it before I said, "no".

There was more laughter around us, and it seemed that no one really wanted to be the first to address the security question, "I promised Steve I'd be reasonable about my security. And the mood swings haven't started yet so there's nothing to worry about," I said with a wink to the room at large. "Let's hear it."

"Actually, if we could just hold off for…" Tony started just as the elevator door opened and Happy walked in. "I know you probably don't want to make a public announcement or anything, but Happy is trustworthy and I figured Stark Industries Head of Security should be here as he is responsible for the Tower's security."

I got up and walked over to Happy to give him a hug. We hadn't seen him since the wedding announcement, so as he was returning my hug he said, "congratulations on the wedding!"

"And baby!" Pepper burst out excitedly.

When Happy looked between Steve and I with a raised brow, I just nodded my head and he gave me another hug then walked over to Steve to offer his congratulations.

Once I'd settled back onto Steve's lap, Natasha started, "well, normally I would say that we don't have to do anything all that different from what we're already doing because of the press here until you start showing and experiencing differences in your ability to move around and/or the public finds out. But given what Bruce and Dr. Chastain think is possible, and the fact that we don't know when or how that would happen, I think we're best off if we always have a few people around you."

"Unless I'm in our apartment, right?"

"Right. If you want some alone time and you're in your apartment, JARVIS will let us know if you are distressed. But if something were to happen, especially if it is painful, while you were out, it might draw attention and it might be difficult to move you. That's why I suggest that you have multiple people with you while you're out."

I noticed Happy's eyes widen as Pepper softly filled him in on the whole baby-cell exchange conversation, and he nodded his head.

"That makes sense. Now, of the work-options we'd discussed, I would like to talk about the feasibility of Bucky and I working with clients to help design their systems. If possible, that would include going onsite in the lead up to and during install. Discuss."

There were a couple minutes of silence as everyone rolled that around in their heads.

"You, Bucky, and JARVIS all run searches on clients before you step foot on their property. You share those results via email to the Avengers, and if anything makes anyone uncomfortable, you don't go. Just Bucky goes with Rangeman bakcup," started Ranger slowly.

I agreed and added, "how about the same set-up we had in Trenton. I always have my partner with me. Then I have an additional two Avengers or four Rangemen. Or one Avenger and two Rangemen. Can Rangeman manage that, Ranger?"

"We can. We were planning to bring out a few more guys from Trenton who we managed to get permits for anyway, and hire a few more people in to Trenton since the hiring is going faster there and you haven't been there as much as we thought you might, so we're more comfortable having a higher percentage of new people there. They will be people you know and have worked with in the past. Maybe we'll try our best to schedule as many of your site visits as possible for Tuesdays and Thursdays just to make our scheduling easier?"

"Works for me. Appointments on other days only with advance warning and if necessary for the client. Days with no onsite meetings, extra guard to/from the office, but obviously not necessary in the office, agreed?"

We all agreed.

Steve added, "I will only take a mission if it is _absolutely_ necessary that I be there, but if I do have to take a mission, I'd prefer if you worked from the Tower."

I huffed out a breath as I thought about that. I would rather not agree to that unless there was a specific threat. But, that being said, regardless of the presence or absence of a threat, I knew that it might distract Steve in the field if I was out and about in the city. And a distracted Steve was one who was less likely to come home to me so, "okay. If you have to leave on a mission, I'll stay in the Tower."

"And we'll try to keep him out of the field," said Tony while Steve murmured his thanks in my ear.

"I'm assuming that we want to keep the public in the dark as long as possible," asked Pepper.

"Absolutely," Steve said. "If anyone asks, we don't comment. Eventually, we won't be able to hide it, but until then, we do everything we can to do so."

Won't be able to hide it because I'll be fat, he means.

"You won't be fat, Stephanie, you'll be carrying the Captain's and your child! It is a joyous thing and you should celebrate what your body is capable of!" thundered Thor. And I gave him a smile of thanks in return, changing to a grimace when he added, "though any child of Steven's is bound to be large, so you probably won't be able to hide it for long."

"JARVIS, Clint, Natasha, and I will monitor the various back channels to which we have access for information on the pregnancy until it becomes public knowledge. Just to make sure no one has found out about it," said Bucky

"Okay, maybe I'm being a little dense here, but you all keep clearly delineating between before and after the public finds out. Why?" I asked.

Everyone shifted around a little uncomfortably and I thought about it a bit longer. My hands immediately went protectively over my belly when I realized, "oh my god, they're going to try to take the baby."

"Yes," Natasha said calmly, "there are several organizations who will, without a doubt, try."

I bolted off Steve's lap to the nearest trashcan and proceeded to lose my lunch. Steve was right behind me, holding my hair back and rubbing gentle circles on my back. I felt Natasha on my other side and when it seemed I was done, she grabbed my hand and made me look her in the eyes, "no one is taking your baby. They will have to go through every one of us before they do, and there's no way they will be able to do that. You and the little one are going to be fine. We will keep you safe. Believe me." I looked at the determination in her eyes and realized that I did believe her, so she nodded.

"Suppose we might as well get used to that," Sam said gesturing toward the trashcan while Steve settled me on a breakfast bar stool then jogged off toward our apartment. He was back a minute later with my toothbrush and toothpaste which I gratefully stepped into the kitchen and used. Meanwhile, Natasha replaced the bag of the trash can I'd used. I couldn't ask for a better support team, I realized, telling them as much when I settled back on the armchair with Steve.

"After the public finds out, I can't just stay inside for six or however many months. We'll still have to go to public events and I- I just need to be able to see outside sometimes," I finished lamely.

"No one is going to keep you locked away in here, Babe," Ranger said. "But after they find out, we'll probably ask you to stay in as much as possible for a few days. Maybe a week. Then if you go out, you'll do so with a full, uniformed guard of Rangemen and anyone else that Stark Industries and the Avengers want to add."

Happy nodded his head and said, "with a Stark Industries driver and armored car. And we'll definitely be adding people to that guard, especially at scheduled public appearances."

I found myself blinking back tears then and Sam just wiggled his finger at me with a smile on his face, "uh uh uh. You said that the mood swings hadn't started yet, so you cut that out!"

Steve leaned around my side to take a look at my face just giving me a kiss when he saw the tears and rubbing his hands up and down my arms.

"What do we do about a doctor?" I asked. "Is that something that you, Dr. Chastain, and her staff can handle onsite, Bruce?"

"I'll talk to Dr. Chastain in more detail tomorrow, but we think so. I've already got JARVIS working on getting you some prenatal vitamins and other supplies, discreetly of course. We can go through those tomorrow. With your permission, we would like to place a call to Coulson and consult with his team, especially Jemma Simmons."

"That's fine with me, if it is fine with Steve. You all trust his team, right?"

"Yes, and that's fine Bruce. Call them in whenever you'd like."

"I figured we'd have a little bit longer, but JARVIS and I have already started a search for an OB/GYN with Dr. Chastain to add to the medical floor anyway." Tony cut in, "Why don't I provide you with the top contenders to run at Rangeman as well? Then he or she can be on the medical team as well, in building, with a zillion NDAs and the requirement that he or she work closely as part of this larger team only."

"Perfect," I said. "Alright, are we okay for tonight?"

"I think so," Steve said before helping me stand up. "Ranger, Tank, have a good night and I'm sure I'll see you around the office this week. The rest of you, we'll see you tomorrow morning for breakfast?"

There were various words of assent and goodnight as we walked over to the stairs. As soon as we walked into our apartment, I let Steve pick me up and carry me gently to our bed. We spent plenty of time slowly making love, with Steve worshipping my body and paying extra attention to my belly, even though there were no visible changes to it yet.

_**Steve's POV**_

Monday morning, I woke Stephanie up slowly at our usual time and in our preferred style. After we showered together, Stephanie wandered upstairs while I grabbed her coffee for her. She was happily chatting with Natasha and Clint when I handed her the mug holding the second I had ready for her. At Clint's surprised look I just shrugged and said, "I switched it to mostly decaf with just a tiny bit of regular a couple weeks ago. There isn't enough caffeine to cause a problem."

Stephanie took a sip and then went completely pale. Tony and Pepper were just walking down their stairs into the common room and the elevator had just opened to Bucky, Sam, Bruce, Thor, Ranger, Tank, _and_ Lester. In a flash, Clint grabbed the trash can and handed it to Natasha, who held it steady as Steph's stomach tried to throw up even though she didn't have anything in it yet. Steph was crying and heaving as I rubbed her back gently.

Catching Sam's eyes, I said, "hey man, do you could move that coffee further away from Steph?" gesturing toward it with my chin and smiling my thanks when he complied. "Steph, honey. Do you want some tea instead?"

When Steph just nodded her head that was still in the trashcan and I was pleased to see Pepper move into the kitchen and start the kettle. While that was starting, she reached into a cabinet and pulled out some crackers, putting them on a plate and sliding it in front of me. Steph finally lifted her head cautiously. I kept rubbing her back gently and pressed a kiss to her temple before asking, "want to try some crackers to see if that helps settle your stomach while we wait on the tea?"

As she righted herself completely, we heard Ranger on the phone instructing someone to make sure that there was no coffee on the floor at Rangeman. Stephanie's eyes went wide and she looked around the room, taking in the number of people who were there. She slowly and gently started banging her head against the breakfast bar groaning out a, "just perfect. Of course everyone saw that."

Clint gently put his hand between Steph's head and the counter then gently pulling her up tall and into his own chest and taking over rubbing her back as I moved to make her tea. "Steph, it's okay. No one cares. You just gotta tell us what things are going to set you off, and we'll try to minimize your exposure to them, okay?"

Everyone else voiced their agreement and watched cautiously as she slowly nibbled on the cracker. She laughed at the looks on everyone's face and said, "I'm pretty sure that was more food aversion than morning sickness. I didn't feel sick until I smelled and tasted the coffee. As long as that's gone, I should be okay. You all can have some though; it will probably be okay."

"That's alright, they'll get some later, and thankfully I don't need any because it doesn't do anything for me anyway," said Bucky.

Pepper walked back into the room her hands full of new toothbrushes and a bag around her wrist with tubes of toothpaste. She put one set in a cup in the kitchen then walked over to the floor's bathroom and presumably set one in there. Then she handed one to each Avenger and said, "just keep this on your floor in case she hangs out there sometime and has a repeat performance." Then she handed the rest to Ranger for distribution as he saw fit throughout Rangeman.

"Thanks," I murmured to her as I finished off Steph's tea and slid it across the counter to her. When she finished a few more crackers and her tea, I asked, "still want to head down to the gym before we go in to the office?"

"And the gun range," she said with a nod.

"Okay, you want anything more to eat before we go down?"

She twisted her lips in thought then said, "no, I think I better not. I'll just eat a couple more of these on the way."

We made it into the gym and Steph walked over to the treadmill setting it to a reasonable walking pace. Clint and Bucky flanked her on either side, running and joking with her. When she turned her speed down more after about 10 minutes, she panted something about not knowing what was wrong with her. Bruce, who had decided to join us today as he did his yoga on the mats, unfolded himself from his current pose and walked over to her. He handed her a water bottle and made sure she drank the whole thing while he explained to her about increased blood flow and heart function due to pregnancy. When he finished, he waited until she'd finished the 15 minutes she'd programmed. He then helped her off the treadmill and over to the mats where he and Natasha proceeded to show her some yoga and pilates moves that they told her were safe and would help her with delivery if she did them throughout her pregnancy.

We finished up in the gun range after Bruce reassured her that it would be fine and me insisting on doubling her up in kevlar the second she set foot inside. I knew it was probably excessive, but I didn't particularly care. I understood the need for Steph to keep in practice with her gun since she was going to be carrying, yet I was also uncomfortable with her being around guns that were firing. Definitely not logical, but Steph seemed to accept and understand, so she put up with my hovering and the extra body armor.

Knowing that she didn't want to be smothered, and that her coworkers had gotten used to getting to spend time with Steph during the day, I chose to go into work with her, but spend most of my time in the break room. I read through the files on OB/GYNs that Tony had sent us, asking JARVIS to clarify some things and do a little extra research. By the end of the day, I had compiled my personal rankings and some notes for Steph to look through and sent them off to her in a quick email.

I stood up and stretched then wandered over to the control room, leaning casually against the door. Hal was sitting watching monitors with someone I didn't recognize, so I assumed it was one of the new employees. "Hey, Hal. Quiet day?" I asked, chuckling when he nodded in agreement but his partner looked over then jumped in surprised. I walked over to him and said, "Hi, I'm Captain Steve Rogers. My wife Stephanie works here; I'm just waiting for her to finish up for the day so we can head home to Avengers Tower."

He gulped audibly before saying, "my name is Michael Miller, but I go by Nitro. It's an honor to meet you, sir."

I nodded solemnly at him, breaking into a smile when I felt Steph poke me from behind. "Stop scaring the new guy. Nitro, relax, he's friendly. No need to call him 'sir'. He's just messing with you right now, but he actually _would_ prefer for you to call him Steve. Cross my heart."

"Yes, ma'am, Mrs. Rogers."

"Ugh, now look what you did. He was calling me Steph earlier!" Steph said to me mournfully before turning back to Michael and saying, "come on, Nitro, I'm still just Steph!"

He nodded cautiously and said, "have a good night Steph, Captain Rogers."

I laughed and pushed off the wall saying, "she's right, it's just Steve. Good night to you as well."

As we walked back over to Steph's office, I wrapped my arm around her waist, chatting with Bucky while Steph powered off her computer and gathered her things. Down in the garage, I helped Steph into the car before walking around and taking the passenger seat. Bucky climbed into one of the Rangeman convoy vehicles and we headed out. There were still reporters who camped out at the office, but the lead car always picked a random route and Steph easily followed them. This tended to result in us losing any trailing reporters fairly quickly in the New York traffic.

Just a couple blocks into the drive, I looked over and noticed that Steph had gone pale. She was trying to breathe slowly and methodically, so I calmly said, "what's going on Sweetheart. Are you okay?" while looking around us.

"Nope, shit, can't do it. Can't do it. Sorry Steve."

I started to panic, asking her "what?" and grabbing my shield as she swerved into the first open spot at the curb that she saw. As soon as the car stopped, she bailed out the side and I hit my panic button before running to her side of the car and covering her with my shield still trying to ask her what was wrong, worried when she didn't respond. That was until she leaned down and puked all over my shoes.

When I heard the squeal of tires as the lead car came back around the block and stopped in front of us, I tried to wave them off as I had the car that was tailing us. Despite my best efforts to spare her some embarrassment and avoid drawing attention as there appeared to be no threat, we were quickly surrounded by Rangemen. Bucky ran back to his SUV, talking on his phone to JARVIS and explaining the situation to the other Avengers, and came out with two bags which he handed to me.

Stephanie's heaving finally stopped, and I heard her groan out, "morning sickness my ass". Thankfully Bucky and I were both able to hold back our laughter. I helped Stephanie away from the driver side of the car and covered her as I moved her around to the passenger side. I settled her in and buckled her seatbelt dropping a kiss on her forehead and handing her a bag. Then I hustled back around to the driver side and sat down with my feet outside of the car. I slipped my shoes off and into the second bag then tied it off and tossed it and my shield into the back seat before adjusting everything to comfortable driving angles for myself.

I looked over at Bucky and said, "shall we go home?"

He just laughed and all the Rangmen hustled back into their cars. As we pulled back into traffic, Steph had her head against the window and she whispered, "I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault, Sweetheart. Since there's no food in here, I'm guessing that was the admittedly poorly named and dreaded morning sickness?" When she nodded pitifully, I said, "well, guess we're not going to be lucky enough to skip that one then. We'll just have to see what Bruce and Dr. Chastain can recommend to help you out, okay? Oh, I put a few flavors of gum in the glovebox earlier though, if you want. Do you think you can let me or whoever else is with you drive from now on though? At least until this passes? That way we don't have another of these unscheduled stops?"

"Yeah, that's probably a good idea," Steph agreed while picking through the gum. She smelled a couple of them and proceeded to get sick into her bag. I winced as she just dropped them into that same garbage bag with a "No fruit and mint, I think."

I hummed in agreement as I finally pulled into the Tower, laughing when I saw the rest of the Avengers standing next to Stephanie's parking spot waiting for us. I climbed out of the car and didn't quite make it around to the passenger side before Tony had it open. Natasha held out her hand to Steph and helped her out of the car then without second thought grabbed the bag out of her hand and asked, "again?"

I sighed and just said, "no gum of the fruit plus mint flavor family."

"JARVIS?" called Tony.

"I've added it to the list, Sir."

"List?" Stephanie asked cautiously.

"Foods to which you have aversions during your pregnancy, Mrs. Rogers. Sir has asked me to start keeping track so that any residents can check at any time. I'll monitor as best I can while you're in the Tower, but you can update me whenever you'd like."

"Well thank you both, that's sweet."

Tony winced when he heard the word "sweet", while JARVIS seemed quite pleased when he replied, "you're most welcome, Mrs. Rogers. As always, if there is anything I can do to make you more comfortable, please let me know. With your permission, I'll also track your vitals as best I can while you're in the Tower and alert the Avengers and medical staff if there are any concerns."

"Sure, JARVIS, that'd be great".

Natasha dumped the bag in the trash, wrapped her arm around Steph's waist, and gestured to Clint to hand Steph the crackers he was holding. "So, think you can handle dinner?" I asked hesitantly after she'd nibbled on a couple.

I relaxed when her stomach grumbled in response and she said, "maybe something light? Like a light pasta?! Ooooooh with pesto and vegetables and chicken? And garlic bread? Can we get something like that from somewhere?"

"Full kitchen staff, Steph! 24 hours a day, 7 days a week!" Tony reminded gleefully. So, as we rode upstairs in the elevator, we each called out our orders, and JARVIS sent them to the kitchen.

When JARVIS told us it would be up in about 45 minutes, Bruce cleared his throat and said, "Dr. Chastain stayed late. We were wondering if we could give you a quick exam before dinner?"

The elevator paused on the medical floor, and I watched holding my breath until Stephanie agreed. She, Bruce, and I stepped out and told the others we'd be up before too long. Dr. Chastain looked up from the chair she was sitting at in the lobby and greeted us kindly.

"Doctor, we all just ordered dinner, would you like JARVIS to add something to the order for you? I'm having pesto pasta with veggies and chicken. I'm sure it will be delicious, and they'll make you whatever you want!" Steph asked enthusiastically.

"Oh, I don't want to impose."

"Come on Doctor, you're part of the team!" I encouraged, knowing Bucky would love the chance to get to spend some more time with her.

"Alright, I'll join you, but if I really am part of the team, you all are going to have to start calling me Lynda."

"Sure thing, Lynda!" Steph said brightly as we wandered down the hall to one of the exam rooms and Steph. When I paused outside, Stephanie just turned around and looked at me with raised eyebrows and said, "don't know what you were thinking was going to happen, or if this is a 30s and 40s thing, but trust me when I say I expect you to be with me for every step of this. Including being inside the room during the appointments."

I took a deep breath and let it out a little apprehensively before nodding my consent and following her into the room. It wasn't as though I wasn't intimately familiar with her, but I just wasn't so sure about the clinical setting. Plus, like Stephanie said, men didn't really do that when I was younger. But I would support her in whatever way she needed me, so if she wanted me in the doctor's office, I'd go with her into the doctor's office.

"Because your pregnancy is completely unique and we don't know what to expect, we'd like to see you weekly, Steph so we can closely monitor what is going on. We have no reason to expect that it won't go perfectly, but we want to be on the safe side. For now, Dr. Chastain and I will run your appointments, with Dr. Chastain doing most of the, uh, physical examining with me hanging out up here above your head if you don't mind, Steph."

"Works for me. You can Steve can have an above the head party during the awkward moments."

"And then if and when you pick out an OB/GYN, that doctor would obviously become primary, but we'd probably both stay on as part of your medical team."

We started with Steph's height and weight (which I frowned when I realized she still wasn't up to pre-shooting weight) and drawing blood. They put it into a machine to begin analysis before Stephanie changed and moved to the exam table. They asked Steph when her last period started, and when she hesitated, I told them the date. They gave me strange looks and I just shrugged and said, "I remember pretty much everything."

From that, they guessed that Stephanie was somewhere around eight weeks pregnant, explaining that they count from the period, not conception. That seemed weird to me because it meant she wasn't actually pregnant for roughly the first two weeks of her pregnancy, but I guessed if that's the way they do it, that's the way they do it. They told told us that they'd like to do an ultrasound. Apparently because it was so early, they had to use a very awkward probe called a "transvaginal ultrasound" that actually went inside of Steph though Steph was of the "what does it matter if you're doing a full exam anyway?" mentality. Truth be told, I felt a little guilty for the invasiveness that she was already going through, but she seemed to take it in stride, so I just quietly observed. From above her head.

I crouched down to be at the same level next to Steph when Dr. Chastain smiled and turned the ultrasound monitor toward us. She pointed at a little tiny spot on the monitor and said, "there's your baby! And look, we can see the heart beating! Looks like that eight week guess should be about right, I'd expect your hormone levels to confirm when JARVIS gets those results."

"I agree, her hormone levels reflect approximately eight weeks pregnant, six weeks of fetal development" intoned JARVIS.

She continued explaining that the baby was currently about the size of a raspberry and was starting to get eyelid folds and ears while swimming inside Steph with webbed fingers and toes. She kept explaining things to us and asking Stephanie about symptoms but all I could see was that tiny spot on the screen in front of me. I was absolutely dumbfounded by everything that was going on inside of Stephanie already!

Steph asked for copies of the picture, and gave Bruce and Lynda permission to discuss the highlights and show pictures to the Avengers if they wanted to see them. JARVIS too. They finished up the ultrasound and gave Stephanie and I some time alone. Once Stephanie had cleaned herself up a little and changed back into her uniform, we took advantage of that time just to hold each other and experience our bond. Well, and we exchanged a few kisses.

Bruce and Lynda rejoined us and discussed the symptoms that Stephanie was experiencing, and it seemed she was checking most of those boxes off. Most importantly in my mind, we discussed the morning sickness that was just starting. They stressed the need for Steph to eat continuously throughout the day to minimize nausea as well as her desire to keep exercising, agreeing that her workout from that morning had been reasonable and good for her.

We wandered upstairs, happy to see that the food was just arriving. We also noticed two new people in the foyer, Jane and her assistant Darcy, who we'd been expecting a couple moths ago. After quick introductions, we moved fully into the room, Steph's stomach growling audibly again. When our eyes went over to a stretch of wall where Tony had removed a painting and JARVIS had created a new display, however, we re-routed. On it, JARVIS had placed a short video continuously looping of today's ultrasound under the label "Baby Rogers - 8 weeks". Below the picture he had some of the facts that Lynda and Bruce had given us about what that meant in terms of the baby's development.

As Stephanie walked up to it and ran her fingers over the ultrasound, there was silence in the room.

Darcy licked her lips nervously and said, "first of all, I want you to know, that you can absolutely trust us, we're not going to let anything slip to the media or anything like that. Second of all, everyone up here was super nervous about your appointment, and they got really excited when JARVIS told them you'd given him permission to tell them about the pregnancy. So I came up with the idea of making this display so that after each appointment, you could have it until the next one. I also thought maybe Stephanie would want to take a picture by it each week so you could track her bump. I've seen some awesome blogs that do this. I hope I haven't overstepped..." she trailed off awkwardly, nibbling on her nails and clearly unsure of how this was going to be received.

Stephanie was still enthralled with the ultrasound picture, but when Darcy stopped talking she spun around and rushed up to the woman and pulled her into a hug while sobbing rather alarmingly all over her. I could tell that Darcy and Steph must be cut from a similarly friendly cloth when Darcy, though looking slightly taken aback, wrapped her arms around Steph and gently rubbed on her back before asking, "is this happy, sad, angry?" with wide eyes.

"I like it," I cautiously filled in the awkward silence.

Stephanie launched herself at my chest, but shifted her stance so she could tilt her head on my chest and look Darcy in the eye. "Happy. This is fabulous. Thanks! Maybe you could help us take the picture after dinner?"

Darcy smiled and nodded, looking very relieved.

I carefully guided Steph in the kitchen, and pointed out where her food was, but then let her wander around and smell everything else. When it seemed like nothing was going to set her off, I led her over to the big dinner table, and settled her down with her food in front of her. I went back and grabbed my own food, amused to find that Steph had Darcy on one side of her and Natasha on the other, so I shrugged my shoulders and sat down across from her.

Dinner passed with a little bit of baby talk, but Stephanie seemed more interested in finding out about Darcy and Jane. How their move was going, what they were going to be doing and where they would be working (in the tower, it turned out. Jane would be continuing her research and Darcy would be assisting Jane, Bruce, and Tony as well as interfacing between the Avengers, including Pepper and Stephanie, and both traditional and social media.) We also had another detailed safe room discussion now that Jane and Darcy needed to be factored into the equation. When Stephanie had JARVIS pull up the portfolios and notes I'd made about the various OB/GYNs to get opinions from the other women figuring they'd be using those services as well to some degree, the other men and I tuned that part of the conversation out.

Once everyone had finished up dinner, Bucky and I gathered up the dishes and took them into the kitchen before grabbing the dessert. I set Stephanie's cheesecake in front of her and was shocked when she immediately burst out in tears.

"Steph…" I started cautiously, "what's wrong? You like cheesecake."

"Raspberries!" she wailed.

I looked over at the monitor in the other room and winced.

"So, I'm guessing the hormones have joined the party," Clint said slowly. Natasha reached out and smacked him upside the head when that just made Steph cry harder.

I quickly grabbed my handkerchief and passed it over to Steph as she tried to gasp out an "I'm sorry!" and I just gathered her up in my arms and carried her into the living room, shushing her and whispering softly into her ear. I gestured to Natasha and said, "I think it's time for the-"

"On it!"

Natasha quickly stepped into the elevator, and Stephanie had mostly calmed down by the time she got back. Holding out the boxes she brought back with her.

"I have no idea what these are," she said to Stephanie, "but Ranger hinted that they would come in handy. We've been holding them back to hide them from Thor, but I think it is time." She winked at Thor when she mentioned him because his love for Pop Tarts was legendary.

Natasha opened a box then held a package out to Stephanie.

Stephanie rushed Natasha and pulled her into a hug, causing her to drop the boxes. "Tastykakes! Oh my god, you're the best!"

"Steve was in on it too."

And I found myself with an armful of Stephanie before she pulled back and passed one out to everyone. As we ate, Darcy and Stephanie eyed the Baby Rogers sign contemplatively.

"Oh, shoot! I hate to tell you this, but, I think the press is onto you. Did you stop on your way home from work today to throw up in the street?" Darcy asked.

"Fuck. Seriously? Cameras?!" I shouted.

Darcy paled and just stared at me, terrified and nodded. She managed to stammer, "people are speculating morning sickness."

"Sorry, Ma'am. I know it isn't your fault." I tried to reassure her, but Stephanie seemed to do a better job of that.

"Well, we're trying to wait to officially confirm until at least 12 weeks. Speaking of, Steve, I have an idea for that we should talk about. And Darcy and Pepper too probably, after Steve and I have talked." She sighed and said, "but for the meantime, just don't respond."

Bruce cleared his throat and said, "depending on the effect of that other thing we discussed at the party, you may not have that long."

"Alright," I said, "well, until if and when that becomes relevant, we'll proceed as planned."

"In the meantime," Stephanie bounced up excitedly. At this point, I had to admit to myself that if this was a sample of the pregnancy mood swings that I'd been assured would last the whole pregnancy, they were going to be exhausting. Probably more so for Steph though, so I'd just have to roll with it. "Picture… What do you guys think? Should I try to find something that I might be able to wear the whole time?"

Pros and cons of that idea as well as a couple others were listed, and eventually Stephanie decided to go the sports bra route. So, she wandered downstairs to change. Once we heard the door into our apartment shut, everyone looked at me with raised eyebrows.

I scratched my chin and said, "yeah, that was the first round of obvious mood swings. To be fair though, it was a big day. First workday and day out of the tower since she found out. And we saw the baby for the first time." My own voice choked up remembering that, so I quickly rushed on with, "Who wants to see how much chocolate raspberry cheesecake they can eat before she gets back? Dibs on her piece!" I said, rushing back into the dining room. I was pleased to see everyone else join me and cram their cheesecake into their mouths quickly then gather up the dishes to get rid of the evidence. We settled back into the living room just in the nick of time, and Stephanie gave me a kiss then snickered when she tasted the cheesecake.

"You could have eaten that in front of me, but thanks for the thought."

I looked her over and noticed that she'd freshened up her makeup, not that she needed it, and let her hair down. Otherwise she had traded her Rangman pants in for her yoga pants and was in her matching black sports bra, much like she was every day in the gym. I walked her over to stand next to the sign, with her hands next to her and watched as Darcy, and everyone else, snapped some pictures on their phones. Nevermind the fact that JARVIS would easily be able to do the same. Then at Stephanie's insistence, we took another set with me standing behind her and my hands caressing where are baby was resting, currently sans bump and a few with me resting my hands on her hips, stomach still clearly bared.

After we finished that round of pictures, Stephanie insisted on everyone else crowding in behind us for a family picture that JARVIS took. Then she looked pensively at the screen again and asked Tony, "Once this goes public, do you think we could put one of these on the floor at Rangeman?"

"Of course. I can have one there for you tomorrow if you want."

"No, they bring customers through there, so we can't put it up until it is public knowledge, but thanks!"

Stephanie and Darcy spent a few more minutes discussing social media. At Darcy's insistence that Steph and I were the closest thing the US had to England's Prince and Princess, we agreed that she could set up social media accounts and a website for us, as long as she waited for approval from us both before publishing any new content. To get her started, we provided her with a copy of our entire file of wedding pictures. We also gave her permission to get copies of pictures from JARVIS, trusting both Darcy and JARVIS to exercise discretion about which of those pictures to access. And knowing we'd be able to reject them if necessary.

After a truly exhausting day, emotionally more than physically, Stephanie eventually passed out on me in the living room. I cradled her to me for a while, with my hands resting over her belly again, as I kept talking to everyone else. When I decided it was time to move her to our bed, I gathered her up in my arms and bid everyone good night. As I led her downstairs, she explained her idea and what she needed from me for whenever we decided to announce the pregnancy. I liked her idea, so, after she drifted back off to sleep, I started on a few designs. I'd have one made for each possible week of announcement after she approved.

* * *

**A/N:** First off, super bonus points to the first person to find the Archer quote. Now that we have that out of the way, we can move on. So, how are you all? What are your thoughts and feelings on this chapter? Please share (review or send me a PM)!

Fetomaternal microchimerism info if you're curious, one review paper if you like science papers, or the wikipedia page if you don't!

Replace the DOT with . everywhere and hopefully these will make sense this time.

wwwDOTncbiDOTnlmDOTnihDOTgov/pmc/articles/PMC2633676/

enDOTwikipediaDOTorg/wiki/Microchimerism


	22. Chapter 22

**Disclaimer: **The characters and things you recognize in this story don't belong to me. They belong to Marvel and Janet Evanovich. I'm pretty sure you'll recognize which is which. Mistakes belong to me.

Chapter 22

_**Steve's POV**_

I woke with a start in the very early hours of Thursday morning trying to figure out what was wrong. "JARVIS, stay silent for now, lights on 15%," I whispered, satisfied that the level of light probably wouldn't wake Steph. I focused my gaze on where she was thrashing and moaning next to me. Quietly I studied her, trying to decide what was happening.

When my eyes flitted over her neck, I noticed that her scar was almost completely faded. Quickly, I got up and pulled on some pants, then grabbed one of my shirts and extra pairs of sweatpants out of a drawer. "JARVIS, bring the lights up to 25%. Get Banner first and tell him to call Dr. Chastain. I think they're going to want to see this. Then get Natasha. Clint can come too if he wants. Make it clear that this isn't an emergency, per se. No weapons required."

I barely had time to pull my shirt and pants onto Stephanie before Natasha and Clint came rushing in, weapons drawn.

"I said no weapons," I whispered, slightly alarmed.

Natasha rolled her eyes and said, "Cap, we have code words for if it _actually_ isn't an emergency. JARVIS, aquarium!"

"Too late for that," I groaned as the rest of the Avengers assembled behind them. "Sorry, everyone. I wasn't thinking clearly."

"Obviously," groaned Tony before walking out of the room. I could just barely hear him relaying the information to Pepper as well as Jane and Darcy.

Bruce walked in, followed by the rest of the women, and said, "Dr. Chastain should be here in about 10 minutes. Why are we here? I swear Steve if this is because she's having a nightmare, crazy pregnancy dreams are totally normal. Just wake her up." He reached toward her and I pushed his hand away.

"No, let her sleep through as much of this as possible. Look at her neck."

Everyone crowded around the bed quietly and Pepper let out a gasped, "What happened to her scar?"

"It's actually still there, just very, very faint right now." I replied, noticing Bucky nodding in agreement.

Much as she had Saturday night with Happy, Pepper pulled Jane and Darcy off to the side and explained Bruce's hypothesis on the serum possibly changing Steph. Bucky and Sam came up next to me and flanked me on either side of where I was standing, arms crossed, watching Stephanie flail clearly uncomfortably about in our bed. I hated that it was my fault she was going through this and there was nothing I could do to help her or make her feel better.

Natasha caught my eye from across the way and smirked before saying, "I don't know, Cap. Looks uncomfortable but not all that excruciatingly painful."

I shrugged my shoulders and said, "I'd been sick but not hurt before I had the serum was injected in me. She almost certainly has a higher pain tolerance than I did back then. Hopefully it isn't as bad as I remember and it doesn't hurt her. Also, this is happening incredibly slowly in comparison."

Probably about a minute later, Stephanie groaned again, and this time her hands wound up on her belly.

"Natasha, Bruce stay. Everyone else, out," I snapped, grateful when they listened. Eyes wide I looked at Bruce and forced out the question "Do you think it will cause her to lose the baby?"

"No, I really don't think so Steve. I think she's uncomfortable and subconsciously made that motion to soothe herself."

We waited several more tense minutes before Dr. Chastain walked in, followed by Thor and Clint carting the ultrasound machine. I eyed the machine and said, "are you going over her belly this time?"

When I received a nod in reply, I looked at Steph then at the puppy dog eyes Clint and Thor were giving me and nodded my head. Thor left and Clint talked over to Natasha. Everyone funneled back in while Bruce and Lynda went about setting up the machine, calibrating it, and other things I didn't quite understand. At Bruce's suggestion, Darcy took the ultrasound gel and ran it under warm water in the bathroom so that the cold wouldn't wake up Stephanie who was somehow still asleep.

"Does she always sleep this soundly?" Dr. Chastain asked apprehensively, appearing relieved when I nodded my head. I helped her prop Stephanie up a little with some pillows, tug my pants a little lower on her hips, and pull the shirt up a little. Darcy brought the gel back and a few seconds later we were looking at an ultrasound picture.

Stephanie startled awake as Lynda moved the wand around trying to find a good angle. Her head whipped around and took in the fact that everyone was standing in the room, then looked back down at her belly which Lynda had removed the wand from. There was a moment of awkward tension before Stephanie slumped back against the pillows and mumbled, "What the hell guys? What time is it and what are you doing? I have to tell you this is really fucking creepy."

"Good morning, Mrs. Rogers. It is currently 3:14 am and -10 degrees Fahrenheit in Manhattan. It is forecast to snow this afternoon."

"3 am? Seriously. I repeat, what the fuck. And why do I feel like I got run over by a truck?"

"Can you let Dr. Chastain finish her scan first?" I cajoled, grateful when Steph made a half-hearted "go on" gesture at her midsection and half closed her eyes while still clearly watching the ultrasound monitor curiously.

"Steph, Steve, everything looks great. Why don't you get cleaned up a little and then we'll all talk in the living room?"

"Sure, why not. But somebody better explain to me what the hell is going on," Stephanie mumbled under her breath. Thor and Clint took the machine back out with them, and I got Stephanie a warm, soapy washcloth and towel to clean up with. Once she'd done so, I helped her to her feet, righting her with a frown when she stumbled a little. We walked down to the living room, and I looked on in surprise when instead of stopping at the open spot next to Natasha on the couch, Stephanie stumbled right into the kitchen. Everyone's eyes followed her curiously and then I heard the sounds of her vomiting. At this point everyone's gaze turned back to me and I winced slightly before rushing after her, followed by Lynda and Bruce.

I got her calmed down as the doctors flipped through cabinets until they found some whole grain crackers, which they put on a plate and Bruce held out to me. "You should probably keep some of these on your bedside table for the time being, and have her nibble on them before she gets up."

"She's right here, and can hear you perfectly well, Bruce." Stephanie grumbled before grabbing the plate of crackers and stalking back out into the living room. Since she was still standing there, not taking a seat, I stood behind her and pulled her back against me and waited for it. Three, two, one… "Did you get shorter?"

That got us startled looks, "no, Honey. I'm pretty sure I didn't get shorter."

"Weird. I could swear we're not matching up the same way."

"I think you got just a little bit taller. Not much, maybe an inch, but I think a little less."

"Psh, you don't just suddenly get taller at my age."

"Scar on your neck is almost completely gone," I added in a calm, conversational tone.

Steph whipped around and blurted out, "I swear, Steven Grant Rogers, if this is some kind of joke I'm really not laughing. It is too early in the morning for this," and she shoved at me. That was something that she'd never had to modulate her strength doing because it wasn't like she could move me if I didn't want to be moved, so both our eyes widened in surprise when she knocked me back half a step. Interesting. She was nowhere near Bucky or I, but that was much more of a punch than she'd previously packed. I rubbed at the spot idly while looking her over head to toe. There really was no visible difference other than the slight change in height. Maybe her muscles looked slightly more defined, but I wouldn't bet money on that either way.

"This is awesome! Where's the popcorn? Why don't we have popcorn? JARVIS!" Tony exclaimed excitedly before being shushed by Pepper.

"Stephanie, Sweetheart, I promise, I am not playing a joke on you right now. I'm not that good at pranking people, and this would be way too mean anyway. Can you do that again, please?"

I had to smile when Steph just crossed her arms stubbornly and said, "no. I don't want to."

So Clint walked up behind her and started poking her relentlessly saying, "come on Steph. Do it. Do it. Do it." Until she snapped and turned around and shoved him with the palm of her hand, catching him by surprise and knocking him off his feet and back a couple yards. Once again, both pusher and pushee were completely wide-eyed blinking at each other.

"Well, that's new," Stephanie whispered out a few seconds later.

And oh how distinctly I remember that feeling. The feeling of not knowing your body's boundaries or capabilities anymore. Of not really knowing how to do anything anymore because everything was different.

"Let's see what else she can do!" Tony cried. Stephanie was wide-eyed looking down at her hands with tears in her eyes, and I just took two steps toward Tony and yelled for him to get out.

More quietly Stephanie said, "everyone, please just leave us alone." Then she quickly rushed into my arms and slouched just a little so she could burrow into her usual spot on my chest.

As everyone headed toward the elevator, Bruce and Lynda hovered and I just waved them off and mouthed that we'd see them later. Bucky was holding the elevator doors open and I couldn't keep the smile off my face as they were closing and I heard him say, "Doc, no use going all the way home, you can catch a couple more hours of sleep in my guest room."

I reached down and grabbed Steph by her thighs, encouraging to hop up and wrap her legs around me for the trip up to our room. I bound up the stairs with her in my arms, not noticing any variation in her weight as we went. When I laid her out on our bed, I noticed that the shocked look was still firmly in place on her face, so I leaned down and kissed it away.

"It's okay, Steph. Everything's okay. You're still you!"

She groaned and pulled me down against her saying, "somehow I just really didn't think this was going to happen at all. They said something about 50-75% and something else about 5-7 weeks, so when they told me I was 8 weeks pregnant, I figured we were out of the woods as far as that small chance of it happening anyway was concerned."

"After all these years, I think I've learned to never doubt Dr. Erskine."

"I have to say though, as much as I feel confused and like my skin isn't my own anymore, I figured if it did happen, it was going to be… I don't know… more?"

I sat back and shrugged my shoulders looking at her and saying, "we'll ask the doctors about it later today, alright? Could be it's not done and you'll slowly get more as the pregnancy goes on and you get more cells from the baby. Could be it works differently on females- Dr. Erskine's potential recruits were all men. Or maybe this is all of it. You're definitely stronger, Sweetheart. Probably more so if we train you, but you're right, you're no where near as strong as Buck or I."

"You realize that this means that the baby definitely is super, right?"

"Yeah, I bet he's gonna be cute though."

"He?"

"I don't know, I just have a feeling, Steph. I mean, I want a mini you so bad, but I think this one's a boy. Maybe the next one will be a little girl?"

She groaned before it turned into giggles, "I've barely started on this one for you! Can't we wait until it is out to talk about the next?"

"Hey, you're the one who said that if we were having one, we were going to have at least two! And we do have this nice big apartment. And they're so much fun to make." I trailed off, slowly peeling the clothes off of her and adding, "let's practice?"

"For the next one?!"

"Yeah, Honey. For the next one." and I slowly started peeling her clothes off of her body.

"You, Steven Grant Rogers, are trouble. You're not fooling me with your Captain America is so innocent act."

"I don't know what you're talking about ma'am." I said, flashing her a full smile when I had her completely naked in front of me. I started nibbling on her neck and said, "you, Stephanie Michelle Rogers are smart, strong, beautiful, the love of my life, and I can't believe I'm so lucky that you're my wife and will be the mother of my children!" Then I started showing her that her body was still hers and I still loved it, just like the rest of her, very much.

When I woke up this time, it was to a clearly alert Stephanie lowering herself down onto my lap. My hands went up to brace her on her hips and I just leaned back and let her have control. Why wouldn't I, it had always been a fantastic view, and it had only become more so as the pregnancy started. I waited until she was fully aroused before allowing my hands to smooth up over her breasts. Watching her face for any traces of discomfort because it had been hit or miss whether doing so would be pleasurable or painful for her since they'd gotten so sensitive.

Apparently luck was on my side this morning, and caressing them was clearly causing her greater pleasure this morning. Stereotypical though it might have been, I found myself to be completely fascinated by them. Steph had been grumbling earlier this week about needing to go clothes shopping just so she could get bigger bras. It wasn't really about her breasts for me though. Well, it was, but not just in because they were breasts and I liked breasts. It had more to do with the fact that they were the first change in her body that I could clearly see. Her body was already preparing to nurture our baby after he or she was born, and that just amazed me. And aroused me in a totally primal way that I didn't fully understand.

Afterwards, I pulled her down onto my chest and gently stroked her hair. I nudged a couple more crackers in her direction, noting that she must have brought some in before waking me up. Once she'd eaten those, I helped her up and into the shower so we could both clean up. While she was washing her hair, she looked at me with a warily.

"So, do you want to explain to me how I came to find myself, at three in the morning, getting an exam from Dr. Chastain while asleep with you and ten other people looking on?"

"She didn't do a full exam!" I stuttered out, feeling the very real need to clarify that point first. "And I had you dressed before anyone got there."

"Oh, I could tell, and you should be sincerely grateful that I believe that."

I dropped my head onto her shoulder pitifully and said, "I woke up and you were thrashing around. You were groaning and it seemed like you were hurting, rather than just having a nightmare or one of those crazy dreams you've been having."

When she cut in with, "oh, you mean like the one where I go to bed and wake up on a table with a bunch of people surrounding me running experiments on me and my baby," all I could do was wince.

"So sorry, Steph. I watched you for a bit and it seemed like it wasn't stopping, so I had JARVIS call Bruce and have him notify Lynda. I figured that if you were groaning because it hurt but just not badly enough to wake you up, you'd probably prefer to sleep through the pain. Then I thought depending on what was going on, if you needed female support rather than my support, you might like to have Natasha there, so I had JARVIS call her and to tell her it wasn't an emergency and she didn't need weapons but she could bring Clint if she wanted."

"You forgot about 'aquarium' didn't you."

I groaned and dropped my gaze to my feet, nodding my head. "That explains why everyone was there. The ultrasound?"

"At some point you started groaning more and you grabbed your stomach. Bruce said he didn't think the baby was in danger and that you probably just did it to comfort yourself subconsciously while you slept and that the baby was fine. But I just. I needed to be sure."

Steph stretched up on her tip-toes because, at this point, I was still a good 6 inches taller than her, and gave me a quick peck on the lips. "Okay, I understand. Try to remember the non-emergency code next time though?"

"I'll do my best, but I was so worried. If it happens again, I can't promise that I won't freak out any less!"

We toweled ourselves dry and when we started getting dressed, I was surprised to see Steph pull on the sweatpants and shirt I'd put on her last night with one of my sweatshirts over it. No bra. My confusion must have showed on my face because she said, "well, I figure that there's going to be a more thorough exam before anything like the gym today. But I realized yesterday that I can't keep pretending my bras fit still, and my jeans that button won't button anymore so… this will do for now, but once we're done with the doctors, help?!"

I chuckled and said, "of course I'll help. Do you want to go out? Or stay in and have the clothes come to you?"

"I'd _like_ to go out, but I don't think it would be a good idea given the frenzy we whipped up on Monday with all the morning sickness speculation."

"Alright, I'll talk to Pepper and Natasha and we'll get some basics brought in to tide you over until we aren't hiding it anymore. Then we can go OUT and shop for pregnancy clothes to your heart's content. Okay?"

"Sounds great, thanks."

"Honey, you don't have to thank me for anything. You are having my baby. Anything I could do for you pales in comparison."

"Our baby."

"Yes, our baby."

With smiles on our faces, we walked upstairs to the common floor. Everyone else was already gathered including a Rangeman escort, which caused Steph to wince. She looked between them and Bucky and said, "uh, I'm pretty sure Bruce and Lynda are going to want to run some extra tests this morning and I need some more clothes before I can go anywhere today so… it's going to be a while. Sorry, I should have called, I just didn't think."

"Everything okay, Steph?" asked Ranger peeking his head out from the kitchen where I hadn't realized he was.

"Yeah, just a bit of a weird night. Baby is fine though," she added and I rubbed my hand protectively over her still-flat stomach. Ranger studied her carefully and seemed unwilling to let it drop so Steph sighed before mumbling, "and I may have gotten taller and a little stronger overnight."

I watched as he and the other men processed that information. There was a little bit of awkward silence until Tony gleefully shouted "Super baby for the win!" as he walked down from the penthouse. He walked up to Stephanie and said, "I'm sorry if I was insensitive this morning. I'm just really excited and curious. You're like a cool puzzle that no one has ever seen before."

Steph gave him a hug and a kiss on the cheek and said, "that's okay. But if anything more happens give me a few hours to adjust before you start passing out the popcorn and tickets, okay? I've been having some nightmares and you hit a little too close to home when you follow that path."

"Awww, sorry again. I know about nightmares. But you just remember what Natasha told you- no one is getting through all of us to get you and that baby."

"I'd really prefer they not get through ANY of you."

I squeezed her hand reassuringly then let go and wandered into the kitchen. I was about to call out and ask her what she wanted when I noticed Ranger had two Boston Creme donuts on a plate for her.

"Taller?" he asked me.

"I don't think any more than an inch. At least not yet."

"Stronger?"

"Definitely. Not approaching me or Bucky, but she knocked me off my center of balance without even trying and she accidentally knocked Barton back a few feet."

"Barton?"

"Yep, he wasn't expecting it, but still."

"Impressive. Think there's more?"

I shrugged, "probably. Don't even know if those two are done yet. It happened while she was sleeping. She seemed a little uncomfortable, but not too bad. It was slower though than when it happened to me, so who knows if it is still gradually going on. I hope she gets the healing more than anything else honestly."

"I hear you there. And so this all happened in the middle of the night and Stark was-"

"Stark, yep. Really good timing on those, actually" I said, gesturing toward the donuts.

This time it was Ranger's turn to shrug as he replied, "it was the first morning I could get here with them early enough, and Tank and I owed her. Glad it worked out that way."

He went off to give Stephanie her donuts, and I fixed her some tea while grabbing some breakfast for myself. When Pepper wandered in, I murmured, "she needs new bras and pants, but doesn't want to be seen out shopping until we make the announcement. Any chance you have a store you trust enough to have someone bring in some clothes so she can try some things on, pick out what she wants, and kind of have the shopping experience from inside? Just a few staples for now. We'll go out and do some actual shopping once she really starts showing."

"Lunchtime in your apartment work?"

I nodded my head and gave her a friendly kiss on the cheek with a whispered "thanks."

As we finished up our breakfast, Coulson's team slowly wandered in. I raised my eyebrow in question and Bruce said, "I called when we left your apartment this morning because I figured it would be a good day to have Simmons around and they were in the area."

"If that's alright with you, of course," Jemma said with a nod for Stephanie and I. I just held Stephanie's hand and waited to see how she replied before adding my consent to hers.

I cleared my throat, and used my most authoritative voice to say "Obviously what we want most is for Steph and the baby to be healthy. So you'll run whatever tests you need to ensure that. But SHIELD and I had an agreement that I'll expect you to honor with respect to Stephanie and any children we have as well. No extra tests, no studying any samples for any reasons other to ensure health, and _no trying to recreate the serum_. Any samples you take stay in the Tower."

There was no underestimating the disappointment on the young scientist and engineer's faces, but they agreed. The rest of Coulson's team nodded their heads in agreement as well. I exchanged a look with Bruce in which he clearly told me that he would be keeping an eye on them. Much to my surprise, Tony caught my eye and wordlessly promised me the same. Interesting. I didn't know that Tony had Coulson's team hacked already.

_**Steph's POV**_

The doctor's appointment part of the day passed relatively quickly and easily. There were more blood tests and, of course, they took my height and weight. Though I'd grown an inch, I hadn't gained any weight, but I was told that was pretty standard given the morning sickness. We added an extra measurement to the routine, with me punching some sensors that Fitz had built to monitor my strength. Obviously we didn't have a baseline, but we'd be able to tell if I got any stronger going forward. We skipped the ultrasound since I'd already had one that morning, and wrapped up earlier than I expected.

Before everyone got ready to leave the exam room, Steve said, "wait, I just want to see one more thing." Everyone turned back around to watch as Steve pulled off the bandage that was covering the blood draw site. He let out a relieved breath and everyone else crowded around with excitement when the small site was completely healed, not even a tiny scab where it had been.

I stood up to move over to a lamp so they could look at the site better and the next thing I knew, I was looking up at five very concerned faces from the examination table.

"Steph, you passed out. How do you feel?" Steve asked while stroking my face.

"A little shaky, but otherwise, fine."

Darcy came scrambling in with some chocolate milk and a poptart and Steve waved her over. I slowly ate them and then sat there for a couple seconds before getting shakily to my feet again.

"Okay, I feel better. I don't understand, I know you told me I'd need to eat frequently, but it has only been two or three hours."

"Metabolism," came Steve's reply.

"He's probably right," said Lynda. "My understanding is that Steve's metabolism runs about four times faster than normal. You'd need to be increasing your calories anyway to fuel a regular pregnancy. Add in that your metabolism is probably boosted at least a fraction from the serum's effects on your body in addition to any boost in what the baby requires. You should make sure you're getting as many of your calories from healthy things as possible, but total calories is going to be just as important. Eat pretty much at least every two hours and as much as you can while you're still experiencing the morning sickness. We'll monitor your weight and let you know if you're overindulging too much, but unless we say so, don't worry about it, okay?"

"Sure. Hey, related question. My pants don't fit. Which I know is expected, obviously, but is the baby going to be like extra big and show early?"

"I'd say it is fairly likely that the baby will be on the larger side of things, yes. As for when you'll show though, it kinda varies from person to person. You were in good shape beforehand, so your stomach muscles might keep you from showing too soon. I don't think any of us can give you an estimate on that; you'll just have to wait and see."

"We might not have another four weeks until the public knows, Steve."

He pressed a kiss to my temple and said, "I know, especially if you get any taller or have any other noticeable physical serum effects. No matter when we have to announce though, we'll be okay, Steph."

As we headed toward the elevator, I was a bit surprised when Jemma, Darcy, and Lynda joined us. I was even more taken aback when they followed us off the elevator. Everything made sense, however, when Steve opened the apartment door and I saw that our first floor had been largely turned into a boutique. Waiting inside were Natasha, Jane, and Pepper.

Natasha rushed over to me and led me to a seat with a plate of food in front of it. "Steve said you passed out, are you okay?"

I rolled my eyes, but when I met Natasha's steely gaze, I just gulped and said, "yes. Apparently my metabolism is cranking like no one's business between the pregnancy, my version of the serum, and the baby's version of the serum. So yay eating!"

Steve chuckled and gave me a kiss before attempting to leave, but I just snagged his hand and said, "can you stay, please?"

He groaned but walked over to the couch that was left in the middle of the setup and sat down.

"Come on, Steve, it'll be like when you used to be on tour with all those showgirls," I teased with a wink. He just shook his head at my antics but smiled before telling me that he'd do whatever it took to make me happy.

We spent a couple hours trying on clothes, as Pepper had brought in way more than necessary and some in everyone's size. I got just a handful of new bras for now and some pants that had a little bit of extra room in them but definitely weren't maternity pants. When Pepper pointed out that we had a black tie event the following week, I got a fancier pair of underwear that should fit under whatever Pepper had assured me Tony was designing for me. I offered to wear one of the old dresses, but they were very well tailored and when Steve brought them downstairs, they didn't come anywhere close to fitting. That moment was I think the one in which I most realized exactly how much my body had already changed.

I also picked out a few plain dark shirts with Steve for our plan, and we asked Pepper and Darcy to stay after the racks of extra clothes and salespeople cleared out with our thanks. Once we were free to talk, we asked for an update on what the media buzz was as Steve walked over to his art-corner and grabbed the correct sketchbook. He then walked into the kitchen and grabbed some crackers, cheese, and grapes on a plate that he handed to me.

The rumor was still very much alive with rumors that I was pregnant, largely citing my public morning sickness spell earlier in the week. Some also listed the standard "source close to the couple who wishes to remain anonymous," who we were certain was a load of crap.

"So, we're really not sure how long we have. If I'm wearing heels at the event next week, probably no one will call me on my height change relative to Steve, but if I get any taller or get muscles, all bets are off. We also have reason to believe that the baby is going to be large, which means I might very well start showing anytime. I've had it explained to me that I might very well go to bed one night with no belly and wake up the next with a very obvious bump."

Darcy and Pepper both let out excited squeals at that, and Steve had a big grin on his face, so I just rolled my eyes at their behavior. I'm glad everyone else was taking joy in the imminent end of my although not impressive, still reasonably acceptable figure.

Steve sighed and leaned over to whisper in my ear, "your figure is way more than acceptable, you're hot. And when your body changes to make room for our baby, you're going to be even sexier. I promise."

I blushed, and from the way Darcy and Pepper were both fanning themselves, I knew Steve hadn't been quite as quiet as he'd intended to be.

"So, what did you have in mind? Want me to try to get you back on Ellen?" Pepper asked.

"No, that's probably excessive, even if it is fun. We can't expect her to put us on her show that frequently," I said.

"She totally would though," argued Pepper.

"I know, but we were thinking something a little more sedate. I don't want to be away from home base when we make the announcement. I want the advantage of being here at home when everyone goes crazy."

"Clearly you have some idea of how this is going to go?" asked Darcy.

Steve flipped open his sketchbook and I said, "Steve's going to make me a shirt. On the day that we decide we're going to make the announcement, we call up the full guard to take me out shopping with Steve. If it is too cold, we go to some sort of an indoor mall or something so that I can walk around without a jacket covering it up."

Darcy and Pepper cooed when Steve laid the sketch in front of them. "That's adorable, I love it!" cried Darcy.

"It's pretty perfect, guys. Let me know when you start rallying the troops for your outing, and I'll make sure we have some friendly cameras in the area," said Pepper.

"I'll write up some statements and designs for your new social media site today, and have JARVIS show them to you for approval. Once you start trending, I'll post them to all of your official channels," Darcy added.

"I'll write up a press release for the team and pass it around to everyone, including the both of you. Darcy will draft up similar designs using that statement and pass them to the team for approval as well, and those will get posted to the Avengers' website and social media pages and the press release will go out an hour after you post yours," finished Pepper.

"So you'll be ready to go tomorrow at the earliest, and we can go whenever after that Steve and I agree?"

"Yep!" Pepper and Darcy both chirped in agreement before giving us both hugs and heading to do as they'd said and complete whatever else they needed to do for the day.

I stretched out on the couch and put my head in Steve's lap. He started playing with my hair and asked, "feeling okay?"

"Mmmmhmmm," I nuzzled into him further. "When do you want to do this? Part of me wants to wait until twelve weeks, but another part of me thinks we should just go as soon as I start showing. Even if it is next week. Even if it is tomorrow. That way we don't have to lie or pretend in public. Plus, at that point, anyone who is a threat would probably be willing to risk it for the chance at a serum."

"That makes sense to me. I'd announce it today if you wanted, Honey. Just tell me when and we'll do it. And who knows, we might breeze right past twelve weeks without you showing."

"Okay," I agreed and allowed myself to succumb to the exhaustion that had been a permanent fixture these days.

I woke up what didn't feel like it was all that much later to hushed voices whispering. I opened my eyes and saw Ranger and Bucky sitting in armchairs which had been returned to their pre-shopping location presumably while I slept. I was pleased to find that my head was still in Steve's lap. He had his sketchpad on the armrest next to him and he was sketching while occasionally stroking my hair.

"Hey, Doll. You forgot about us in you office, didn't you."

I smiled sheepishly then said, "I'm pregnant?" while giving them the big sad eyes.

Both laughed at me and I felt Steve shaking under me. Regardless, I had to pee, which was happening more and more already, much to my surprise. Though Bruce had explained to me why, I didn't remember the full explanation. I was pretty sure it, just like everything else, boiled down to hormones. When I got back, they were eyeing me warily and I said, "no puking, I promise!" before rubbing my eyes a bit to try to get rid of residual sleepiness, "what time is it?"

"Four o'clock." answered Ranger. Shit. Guess it wasn't a short nap, and I wasn't making it into the office today. When Ranger chuckled, I winced. "It's fine, Babe. You just take care of yourself. Bucky and I were able to get a lot done in your office. I hope you don't mind that I used your desk."

"Just as long as you give it back to me! Bucky, did you start your searches on the first batch of customers?"

"Yep. Most of them are looking pretty good so far, I figured I'd let you go ahead and make the actual calls to set up appointments. Something tells me they might respond better to you."

"Tomorrow I'll call the ones that passed your first round of review and see if I can start scheduling appointments next week while passing them off for everyone else to run searches on and running my own searches."

"Steve was just telling us about your plans for making the big announcement," Ranger said.

"Yeah, I figured we'd talk to the rest of the team about it at dinner- do you want to stay? You can order whatever you want, even twigs and bark." When he nodded his agreement, I continued, "so, what do you think? No one can tell me when the belly is going to pop out on me, but we'll probably wait for that to happen. I hear the first pregnancy usually takes longer to, but we think the baby is going to be large, so who knows. Or if I have any more growth spurts that we can't ignore or pretend haven't happened."

We discussed our plans that night and everyone agreed. By lunchtime the next day we'd all approved the announcements for the various sites. For the next few weeks, each time we walked into the doctor's office, I'd grown somewhere around in the range of a quarter to half of an inch, and no one was really sure if the trend would continue or if it would taper off. Our public appearances went well, and somehow I hadn't quite "popped" so we were able to hold off on the public announcement past the twelfth week.

When we made it to week twelve, we went out to Trenton and I let my dad and Grandma Mazur know, reaching the same deal as the wedding. I'd give Grandma a heads' up in exchange for her silence until the public announcement. When we told them, we all cried, including my dad and Steve. Tony had successfully wooed the other women and my number one choice for Avengers Tower Medical OB/GYN, and I was getting along with her very well. My morning sickness was constant, but at least I'd gotten better at coping with it.

I woke up on the Monday morning of my thirteen week appointment even earlier than usual. Before I did anything else, as had become my tradition, I nibbled on some crackers. Once I was absolutely sure I wasn't going to hurl anytime soon, I slid out from under Steve's arm without waking him up. This was something I always did a mini victory dance about when I succeeded in doing, only this morning, I immediately blew it when I looked down and very loudly said, "HOLY SHIT!"

Steve jerked awake and immediately started looking for the threat in the room. I calmed him down by saying, "everything's fine, just, look at this," then pointing down at my belly and continuing with, "I'm pretty sure this wasn't there last night."

The look on Steve's face when he looked down at my belly was absolutely priceless. He was quite obviously filled with wonder. I laughed as he got out of bed and dropped down to his knees to examine the bump more closely. At the same time, I had JARVIS call the medical team, and see if we could come in for our appointments first thing in the morning, rather than at the end of the day. I was quite pleased when they agreed. When Steve started stroking my belly and pressing kisses to it, I stayed still for as long as I could before pulling him back onto the bed so we could start the morning off with our own private celebration.

As we laid on the bed cuddling post-celebration, I poked Steve and said, "hey, are you ready to shout it out to the world?!"

"I'm beyond ready, Steph!"

"Okay, so I'll call Ranger while we're getting dressed. We go upstairs and let everyone know while we have breakfast. Then we go to the doctor's, the gym, and actually get ready for the day. By the time we've done that, our security team should be ready. I know we'd thrown around a few ideas of where we could go, but I'm definitely thinking that shopping is the best call," I said while gesturing down at my new bump, "I'm going to be lucky if I can find one pair of reasonable pants or a skirt to wear, but I think I need those maternity clothes pretty badly right about now."

Steve just looked at me with a huge grin on his face and nodded his agreement. So we got dressed for the morning's activities. I put on yoga pants, a sports bra, and a tight bright blue cami over it that I knew was going to draw attention as soon as we went upstairs. Steve chuckled at my outfit, but I could tell he was quite pleased with himself.

We walked into the living room of the common floor and Bucky was just sitting there with his hand out collecting money from each Avenger one-by-one as the saw me and burst out into surprised laughs.

I walked over to him and grabbed the money out of his hand, counting it out and taking half before putting the rest back in his hand. "Cool, what'd we bet on?" I asked.

"_Not_ cool Doll, I earned that money!"

"How?"

"I bet them while you were on your way up that you had a belly today. Everyone but Bruce took the bet because you were still skinny last night!"

"Did you just call me fat?!"

Bucky's face turned reddish-purple as he stammered, "no! I'm just saying that last night, there was no trace of the baby and today it's sitting right there out front for the world to see." I narrowed my eyes at him and took the rest of the money out of his hand. "And you look even more beautiful for it, Dollface!"

I eyed him warily for a few more seconds, while Steve snickered about "who wasn't so good with dames now," before relenting and giving him back his half of the money.

"How'd you know it was going to be today?"

"I heard you walking when you opened your apartment door. Gait is different."

"Is not!"

"Is too! It makes sense because your center of gravity is starting to shift. It was really hard to tell though!"

I pointed a finger at him and said, "you are not my favorite partner today."

"Steph, come on, I'm your only partner!"

"Just makes it an even more amazing feat that you've accomplished. I suggest you think of ways to make it up to your niece or nephew and I while we're out today!"

"Ooooh! Is today the day?" Tony eagerly asked.

"Yep! I called Rangeman just before we came up. The plan is breakfast, doctors, gym, get ready, then out!"

"Actually, Steph, I'd recommend that you skip the gym if you're going to be out walking a lot today," chimed in Bruce.

"Then I'll not so patiently wait while anyone who wants a workout this morning finishes up."

"Anyone who wants to work out this morning can do so during your checkup. Then they can do more when we get back this afternoon," said Bucky.

I thought about arguing, but it seemed like everyone was nodding eagerly, so I let it go. I had a difficult time sometimes remembering that the rest of the team seemed to be almost as excited about the baby as Steve and I. The next two hours passed quickly. Somewhat thankfully I noted that I hadn't grown taller since my last appointment, making my total growth so far two inches. Thank goodness Steve was so much taller than me, so I could still wear heels. When it was time to get dressed, I was pleased to find that Pepper had anticipated my needs and provided me with one pair of maternity jeans. I wanted to pick my clothes out for myself, but I wasn't eager to try to force myself into my overly tight pants. Tony had also given me a slightly larger armor undershirt that I could wear more comfortably.

They were a light wash which worked perfectly with the shirt that Steve had made for me. We both had huge smiles on our faces as we stood together in the mirror examining my reflection in the shirt. It was a tight black shirt with a scoop neck that displayed my new pregnancy-enhanced boobs to perfection. Right over where my bump was, Steve had used fabric pens and paints to create what looked like a sonogram of a little tiny fetus. Clutched in the fetus's "hands" was a tiny Captain America shield.

I finished perfecting my hair and makeup, snapped a picture which I texted to Grandma Mazur, and then let Steve guide me upstairs with a hand around my newly expanded waist. On a whim, I pulled up the picture Steve had taken and typed out a message, "sorry we couldn't be there to tell you in person, maybe we can stop by soon." and showing to Steve for his approval and saving it as a draft to send to Ellen once we were on our way.

As my originally looser sports bras were about the only ones I could wear anyway, I had Steve take this week's picture by our sign while we waited for everyone to gather. When Darcy came in, we recruited her to take a couple of the both of us. I have a feeling you would be able to see our excitement and joy shining through those pictures.

I finished straightening up my armor and shirt and let Darcy take more pictures of me in it. And, much to Steve's dismay, some of Steve and I, which she'd use to post with our announcements. The elevator doors opened and I was surprised when Tank's was the first voice I heard.

"Little girl, where did that come from?!"

I laughed and looked over at where the Rangeman guard was entering the room. They'd all stopped short, and some of them were openly gaping at me, so I laughed some more and walked over to greet them all. When Lester made a move to put his hand on my bump, I caught his hand and pulled it away saying, "there may be a baby in there, but this is still my body and there's nothing to feel yet! It isn't like the baby is moving. Unless I invite you, you ask before you touch and I reserve the right to say no if I want to without any of you making me feel bad for doing so." I cast my gaze around the room making sure I got nods of acknowledgement from everyone present before putting his hand on my belly and saying, "that being said, it's a special day, so go ahead."

My generosity, of course, meant that EVERYONE had to touch the bump, which I endured until, well, everyone had touched it once. I stood completely still when Thor walked up, knelt down with his hands on my belly and whispered something to my belly. I couldn't hear the words, but I felt a comforting warmth pass through me. "Just a light blessing and protection from my mother and I. I hope that is okay," he said to me when he finished. I, of course, started crying, damn the hormones and pulled him up for a big hug and whispered my thanks and reassurances that of course I didn't mind. If the Norse god of fertility wanted to bless my baby, who was I to say no?!

I looked over the group that was gathered around us, and was told that Hector and Ranger were going to be blending into the crowd and offering a layer of protection there. I was carrying my primary gun on the small of my back, with a backup and a couple of knives on my ankles. Everyone else was carrying as well, though the Avengers were, for the most part, in street clothes. Steve was adamant that we would be recognized anyway and he wanted to have his shield on him. He looked hot with it, and I was shamelessly onboard with pretty much any time he wanted to wear it. Plus, the whole point was to put the rumors to rest, so we wanted people to know who we were.

After a brief discussion, we decided that to take advantage of the unusually warm weather that had it in the mid 60s in March and do our shopping outdoors. Seeing the envy on Darcy's face at the mention of some of the stores we were possibly going to be stopping in, I told her just to post all the messages to Steve and my pages. I then asked if JARVIS could post to the Avengers' pages in an hour's time. I hit send on my text to Ellen and with that settled, we hustled out the door before things got too crazy.

We made it out the front entrance of the Tower with limited fanfare and walked over to Fifth Avenue, making our first stop at the Build-A-Bear workshop. Because it was Monday, it wasn't all that crowded, but we definitely caused a scene as almost everyone in the store had a child with them. Well, that and the armed guard we brought with us because as much as they instantly dispersed themselves throughout the store, they definitely stood out in their black uniforms. As a result, we spent the first several minutes answering questions and signing autographs politely accepting congratulations from those who offered them to us. I made the entire team gather together with the staff and take a picture that I promised to print off and send to them to hang up in the store.

Steve had me pressed into his side, and kept me firmly there, as we walked around each building a bear. I completely lost control of my hormones when Steve made a recording for his bear telling the baby that he loved it and promising to keep it safe before putting the heart inside with whispers and a kiss. My wonderful husband just held onto me and gave me a handkerchief until I got myself under control enough to follow the same process with my bear. I took plenty of time scouring the outfit possibilities before we dressed our bears. Steve's, of course, had a full Captain America uniform, but I insisted on making one that was dressed "more normally", taking Steve's teasing that I'd basically come as close to a Rangeman uniform as was possible with a simple laugh and kiss.

Unsurprisingly, we reached checkout and saw that each of our companions had a box as well. Peeking in through the holes in the boxes, I noticed one of each Avenger.

"This is going to be a problem, isn't it?" I asked playfully. The smiles I received in response were more than enough to give me an answer. "Nice try, none of you are anywhere near that innocent, so don't even pretend!"

"Guess you'll just have to have lots of babies so we can spread out the spoiling!" said Sam.

"Like I told Steve, I'm still a little busy cooking up baby number one here. I'd like to focus on that first."

"Seems reasonable."

We thanked the staff for their help, and stepped onto the street to a much more noticeable crowd than earlier. Happy pulled up outside and we placed our stuffed animals in the limo, confirmed that we were doing well, and accepted the bottles of water he'd left chilling for us. Steve and Bruce both watched to make sure I finished my entire bottle and grabbed a second before Happy moved on. The first store we went to, Saks Fifth Avenue, was mostly a bust. I found a pair of jeans, but the selection was frustratingly minimal and it wasn't an encouraging start. The next couple didn't even have maternity clothes, and for some reason, I wasn't prepared for the fact that maternity clothes would be hard to find. As I grew increasingly frustrated, I was pleasantly surprised when Tony pulled us into a restaurant for lunch.

We sat down at the table and I banged my head against an open spot on it and groaned out, "Why did I think this was a good idea? I hate everything about this, and I never hate shopping!"

"It wasn't that bad," said Bruce calmly.

I looked up and glared at him and he had the nerve to smile at me. I growled in response and he laughed saying, "I'm sorry, it's just reassuring. Most people are afraid to glare at me! And don't worry, we'll find you some clothes. There are thousands upon thousands of pregnant women in New York City, and they have to buy their clothes somewhere. And then, once we know where to go, it'll be easier next time."

"Plus, have no fear, Pepper is here!" cried Tony.

"I'm sorry I missed you guys this morning! I was in a conference call with Tokyo and I didn't even get the message from JARVIS until about half an hour ago after I saw all of Natasha's panicked texts."

We all gazed warily at Natasha, and she just shrugged and said with a straight face, "I was getting frustrated on your behalf and I couldn't get appointments anywhere I tried to get one. People don't say no to Pepper Potts though if she wants to spend money."

Pepper preened at this information and then started rattling off the boutiques at which we had appointments that afternoon. Somehow between said appointments, we were able to swing into GAP long enough for me to pick out some comfies. For our last stop of the day, we went into a store called Destination Maternity that had a huge selection of everything with which I was able to find exercise clothes that fit what I wanted.

That store was mostly things for expecting women or women who recently gave birth, but there was a smaller section of gifts including some baby clothes. I'll never forget the look of confusion, excitement, and fear I caught on Steve's face when he realized that a newborn sized onesie didn't cover up his hand when he spread it out. I snapped a picture and chuckled until the expression turned to pure terror and he just whispered to me, "I'm going to break the baby!"

"No, there is absolutely no way you will break the baby."

"You can't know that."

"Can and do. You're so gentle with me, and I can take it, even before, well, you know. So believe me when I say I know you're going to be even more careful with the baby. There's no way you will break it. Plus, he or she is going to be a little more resilient than normal."

"Promise?"

"I promise." And, since it was a plain white onesie and we'd be needing a bunch of those eventually anyway, I added it to the stack. Might as well let him start getting used to it now! We piled into the limo with the rest of the Avengers and the bags from our last stop on our laps, and I snuggled up to Steve. He started apologizing for freaking out on me, and I just told him it was fine and not even that bad. I was sure it wouldn't be the last anyway.

Of course, Bucky heard and started teasing Steve. "You freaked out on her, Punk? What gives? Scared of a little baby?"

Before Steve could respond, I gripped his arm and said, "Hey, Bucky. Can I see something really quickly?"

"Sure…" he said suspiciously.

"Hold out your hand for me as big as you can," when he did so with his flesh hand, I figured I'd make my point even more strongly and said, "your other one."

He sighed, but complied. I quickly reached into the bag I was holding, grabbed the onesie, and put it in his hand. I took great pleasure in how wide Bucky's eyes got before he dropped the onesie and put his head in his hands and mumbled, "I'm going to break your baby!"

"As long as you don't drop the baby like that, you won't! Actually, it wasn't that far, so probably even if you did the baby would be fine, but I'd rather not test that. Seriously though, you aren't going to break the baby!" I looked around at the nervous expression on everyone other than Pepper's face and let out an exasperated, "None of you are going to break the baby!"

I snuggled back into Steve's side and he kissed my forehead and whispered, "I love you," as I drifted off a little pressed up against his side. Not more than a few minutes later, he jostled me and when I groaned he just said, "Honey, I know you're tired and you can sleep inside, but I think you'll want to see this." I pulled myself up to look out the window, and smiled happily at the crowds of well-wishers holding signs and teddy bears and many other gifts up. They screamed when they saw the limo and we laughed figuring they had done that for any limo that drove down the street. When Stark Industries security came out to line up at the entrance to the garage and our limo turned on the turn signal though, people went even crazier. We were forced to slow down as people started crowding in toward the car, and our Rangeman escort popped out of the cars in front of and behind us to create a barrier on either side and walk along the limo as we went into the building.

I let out a relieved breath when the private garage entrance gate closed behind us and said, "what do you think they're so excited about?"

"Probably that I'm here," came Tony's cheeky reply.

"That must be it," I shot back with a smile.


End file.
